alnage

A1L1N1A1G2E1
/ˈɔːlnɪd͡ʒ/

noun

Measurement (of cloth) by the ell, specifically, official inspection and measurement of woollen cloth, and attestation of its value by the affixing of a lead seal, as was once required by British law.

OriginMiddle English aulnage ← Old French alnage →
Scrabble 7
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Meanings

nounalnage (plural alnages)

plural alnages · alternative obsolete ulnage

  1. historicalMeasurement (of cloth) by the ell, specifically, official inspection and measurement of woollen cloth, and attestation of its value by the affixing of a lead seal, as was once required by British law.

    Poets and kings are but the clerks of Time, Tiering the same dull webs of discontent, Clipping the same sad alnage of the years.

    1896, Edwin Arlington Robinson, The Clerks
  2. historicalA duty paid for such measurement.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchalnage
  2. Middle Englishaulnage
  3. Englishalnage

From Middle English aulnage, from Old French alnage, aulnage (modern French aunage), from alne (“ell”), of Germanic origin: compare Old High German elina, Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰 (aleina, “cubit”). See ell.

More words from Middle English, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

AngelagalenaanlagelagenaLegana
Cite this entry
APA

alnage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alnage

MLA

“alnage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alnage. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alnage,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alnage.

Source: alnage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.