English Online Dictionary. What means wage? What does wage mean?
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /weɪd͡ʒ/
- Rhymes: -eɪdʒ
Etymology 1
From Middle English wage, from Anglo-Norman wage, from Old Northern French wage, a northern variant of Old French gauge, guage (whence modern French gage), Medieval Latin wadium, from Frankish *waddī (cognate with Old English wedd), from Proto-Germanic *wadją (“pledge”), from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“to pledge, redeem a pledge”). Akin to Old Norse veðja (“to pledge”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌹 (wadi), Dutch wedde. Compare also the doublet gage. More at wed.
Noun
wage (plural wages)
- (often in plural) An amount of money paid to a worker for a specified quantity of work, usually calculated on an hourly basis and expressed in an amount of money per hour.
Synonyms
- earnings, pay, salary
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English wagen (“to pledge”), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wagier, a northern variant of Old French guagier (whence modern French gager), itself either from guage or from a derivative of Frankish *waddī, possibly through a Vulgar Latin intermediate *wadiō from *wadium.
Verb
wage (third-person singular simple present wages, present participle waging, simple past and past participle waged)
- (transitive, obsolete) To wager, bet.
- (transitive, obsolete) To expose oneself to, as a risk; to incur, as a danger; to venture; to hazard.
- (transitive, obsolete) To employ for wages; to hire.
-
- abundance of treasure which he had in store, wherewith he might wage soldiers
- (transitive) To conduct or carry out (a war or other contest).
- 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening
- The two are waging war, and the one triumphs by the destruction of the other.
- 1709, John Dryden, Mac Flecknoe
- pond'ring which of all his Sons was fit
To Reign, and wage immortal War with Wit
- pond'ring which of all his Sons was fit
- (transitive) To adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out.
- (obsolete, law, UK) To give security for the performance of
Usage notes
- "Wage" collocates strongly with "war", leading to expressions such as To wage peace, or To wage football implying the inclusion of a large element of conflict in the action.
Derived terms
- wager (agent noun)
Translations
References
- wage in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Anagrams
- waeg
Dutch
Pronunciation
Verb
wage
- (archaic) singular present subjunctive of wagen
German
Verb
wage
- inflection of wagen:
- first-person singular present
- first/third-person singular subjunctive I
- singular imperative
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch wāga, from Proto-West Germanic *wāgu.
Noun
wâge f
- weight
- a certain weight, of which the exact value varied
- weighing scale
- weighhouse
Inflection
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Derived terms
- wâgen
Descendants
- Dutch: waag
Further reading
- “waghe (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “wage (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old Northern French wage, from Frankish *wadi, from Proto-Germanic *wadją. Doublet of gage and wed.
Alternative forms
- wag, vage
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈwaːdʒ(ə)/
Noun
wage (plural wages)
- A wage; earnings.
- Money reserved for the payment of salaries.
- An earned positive consequence.
- A promise, pact, or agreement.
Related terms
- wagen
Descendants
- English: wage
- Scots: wage
References
- “wāǧe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-23.
Etymology 2
Verb
wage
- Alternative form of wagen
Old French
Etymology 1
From Old Norse vágr.
Noun
wage f (oblique plural wages, nominative singular wage, nominative plural wages)
- wave (moving part of a liquid, etc.)
Etymology 2
see gage
Noun
wage m (oblique plural wages, nominative singular wages, nominative plural wage)
- Alternative form of gage
Proto-Norse
Romanization
wāgē
- Romanization of ᚹᚨᚷᛖ