Etymology

usage

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Today it means: A custom or established practice. Full definition →

First used 14th c.Middle English usage ← Anglo-Norman usage
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The story

  1. Anglo-Normanusage
  2. Middle Englishusage
  3. English todayusage

From Middle English usage, from Anglo-Norman and Old French usage. By surface analysis, use + -age.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 14th c. A custom or established practice.
  • from 14th c. Custom, tradition.
  • from 14th c. The act of using something; use, employment.
  • from 14th c. Prevailing language style: how words are used among a populace.
  • from 14th c. Choice of language style (made by a speaker or writer).
  • from 16th c. Action towards someone; treatment, especially in negative sense.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.