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wage

[ weyj ]
/ weɪdʒ /
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See synonyms for: wage / waged / wages / waging on Thesaurus.com

noun
verb (used with object), waged, wag·ing.
verb (used without object), waged, wag·ing.
Obsolete. to contend; struggle.
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Origin of wage

First recorded in 1275–1325; (noun) Middle English: “pledge, security,” from Anglo-French; Old French guagegage1, from unattested Vulgar Latin wadium, from Germanic (see wed); (verb) Middle English wagen “to pledge,” from Anglo-French wagier;Old French guagier, from unattested Vulgar Latin wadiāre, derivative of wadium

synonym study for wage

1. See pay1.

OTHER WORDS FROM wage

wageless, adjectivewage·less·ness, nounun·der·wage, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH wage

salary, wages
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use wage in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for wage

wage
/ (weɪdʒ) /

noun
  1. (often plural) payment in return for work or services, esp that made to workmen on a daily, hourly, weekly, or piece-work basisCompare salary
  2. (as modifier)wage freeze
(plural) economics the portion of the national income accruing to labour as earned income, as contrasted with the unearned income accruing to capital in the form of rent, interest, and dividends
(often plural) recompense, return, or yield
an obsolete word for pledge
verb (tr)

Derived forms of wage

wageless, adjectivewagelessness, noun

Word Origin for wage

C14: from Old Northern French wagier to pledge, from wage, of Germanic origin; compare Old English weddian to pledge, wed
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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