scavage

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noun

A tax on non-resident merchant goods by city officials for resident merchant advantage, similar to a tariff.

OriginMiddle English scavage ← Anglo-Norman escavage ← Old English sċēawung →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

scavage1

nounscavage (countable and uncountable, plural scavages)

plural scavages

  1. countablehistoricaluncountableA tax on non-resident merchant goods by city officials for resident merchant advantage, similar to a tariff.

scavage2

verbscavage (third-person singular simple present scavages, present participle scavaging, simple past and past participle scavaged)

present singular third person scavages · participle present scavaging · participle past scavaged · past scavaged

  1. To act as a scavenger, to scavenge.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
shewage

Origin

scavage · noun

  1. Old Englishsċēawung“a looking at, seeing, contemplation, consideration, respect, regard, reconnoitering, surveying, inspection, examination, scrutiny, a spectacle, show, appearance, pretence, a showing, exhibiting, manifestation, toll on exposure of goods”
  2. Middle Englishshewing
  3. Anglo-Normanescavage
  4. Middle Englishscavage
  5. Englishscavage

From Middle English scavage, schevage, schewage, from Anglo-Norman escavage, escauwage, alteration of earlier escauvinghe (“scavage”), from Middle English shewing, schewing (“inspection, examination, show”), from Old English sċēawung (“a looking at, seeing, contemplation, consideration, respect, regard, reconnoitering, surveying, inspection, examination, scrutiny, a spectacle, show, appearance, pretence, a showing, exhibiting, manifestation, toll on exposure of goods”), equivalent to show + -ing. Doublet of shewage.

More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

scavage · verb

Back-formation from scavager.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

scavage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scavage

MLA

“scavage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scavage. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scavage,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scavage.

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