Meanings
wage1
wage2
present singular third person wages · participle present waging · participle past waged · past waged
- obsoletetransitiveTo wager, bet.
My life I never held but as a pawn / To wage against thine enemies
c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals) - obsoletetransitiveTo expose oneself to, as a risk; to incur, as a danger; to venture; to hazard.
to wake and wage a danger profitless.
c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]1 more example
I fear the power of Percy is too weak / To wage an instant trial with the King.
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals) - obsoletetransitiveTo employ for wages; to hire.
2 more examples
Thenne said Arthur I wille goo with yow / Nay said the kynges ye shalle not at this tyme / for ye haue moche to doo yet in these landes / therfore we wille departe / and with the grete goodes that we haue goten in these landes by youre yeftes we shalle wage good knyghtes & withstande the kynge Claudas malyce
1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xviij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book I[B]etter it as for him to trie the vttermoſt pointe of fortunes happe, than with diſhonour ſo to yeelde at the firſt blow of hyr frowarde hande, conſidering the abundance of treaſure whiche he had in ſtore, wherewith hee might wage ſouldiers and menne of warre out of Germanie and other places, in number ſufficient to matche with his enimies.
1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “The Historie of Scotlande, […]”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, page 113, column 1 - transitiveTo conduct or carry out (a war or other contest).
The two are waging war, and the one triumphs by the destruction of the other.
1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC2 more examples
pond'ring which of all his Sons was fit / To Reign, and wage immortal War with Wit
1709, John Dryden, Mac FlecknoeSetting our sights back on King’s Landing, where the Last War will be waged, makes a lot of sense, even if it does feel a bit anticlimactic after last week’s deadly, blustery maelstrom.
2019 May 5, Danette Chavez, “Campaigns are Waged On and Off the Game Of Thrones Battlefield (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 28 Jan 2021 - transitiveTo adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out.
Thou that doest liue in later times, must wage / Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 18 - UKobsoletelawTo give security for the performance of.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn 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.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
wage · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*wedʰ-“to pledge, redeem a pledge”
- Proto-Germanic*wadją“pledge”
- Frankish*waddī
- Medieval Latinwadium
- Old Frenchgauge
- Old Northern Frenchwage
- Anglo-Normanwage
- Middle Englishwage
- Englishwage
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.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French
Full word history & related roots →wage · verb
- Frankish*waddī
- Old Frenchguagier
- Old Northern Frenchwagier
- Middle Englishwagen“to pledge”
- Englishwage
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 (see the noun above). See Medieval Latin wadiō and wadium for more.
More words from Middle English, Old Northern French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans loon
- loonmoney paid to a worker
Ancient Greek μισθός, ὀψώνιον
- μισθός (misthós)money paid to a worker
- ὀψώνιον (opsṓnion)money paid to a worker
Arabic أَجْر, رَاتِب
- أَجْر (ʔajr)money paid to a worker
- رَاتِب (rātib)money paid to a worker
- أُجْرَة (ʔujra)money paid to a worker
- شَنَّ (šanna)to conduct or carry out
Bengali বেতন, উজরত
- বেতন (beton)money paid to a worker
- উজরত (ujrot)money paid to a worker
Bulgarian запла́та, на́дница
- запла́та (zapláta)money paid to a worker
- на́дница (nádnica)money paid to a worker
- заемам се (zaemam se)to conduct or carry out
- наемам се (naemam se)to conduct or carry out
Catalan salari, sou
- salarimoney paid to a worker
- soumoney paid to a worker
- pagamoney paid to a worker
- honorarimoney paid to a worker
- estipendimoney paid to a worker
- remuneraciómoney paid to a worker
- retribuciómoney paid to a worker
Chinese Cantonese 人工, 薪水
- 人工 (jan⁴ gung¹)money paid to a worker
- 薪水 (san¹ seoi²)money paid to a worker
Chinese Mandarin 工資 /工资, 薪金
- 工資 /工资 (gōngzī)money paid to a worker
- 薪金 (xīnjīn)money paid to a worker
- 薪水 (xīnshuǐ)money paid to a worker
- 工錢 /工钱 (gōngqián)money paid to a worker
- 發動 /发动 (fādòng)to conduct or carry out
- 發起 /发起 (fāqǐ)to conduct or carry out
Czech mzda
- mzdamoney paid to a worker
Danish løn, timeløn
- lønmoney paid to a worker
- timelønmoney paid to a worker
- føreto conduct or carry out
- udføreto conduct or carry out
Dutch loon, salaris
- loonmoney paid to a worker
- salarismoney paid to a worker
- arbeidsloonmoney paid to a worker
- voerento conduct or carry out
- aanvoerento conduct or carry out
- leidento conduct or carry out
Esperanto salajro
- salajromoney paid to a worker
Estonian palk
- palkmoney paid to a worker
Finnish palkka, ryhtyä
- palkkamoney paid to a worker
- ryhtyäto conduct or carry out
French salaire, mener
- salairemoney paid to a worker
- menerto conduct or carry out
German Lohn, Arbeitsentgelt
- Lohnmoney paid to a worker
- Arbeitsentgeltmoney paid to a worker
- führento conduct or carry out
Greek μισθός, μεροκάματο
- μισθός (misthós)money paid to a worker
- μεροκάματο (merokámato)money paid to a worker
Hebrew מַשְׂכֹּרֶת, שָׂכָר
- מַשְׂכֹּרֶת (maskorét)money paid to a worker
- שָׂכָר (sakhár)money paid to a worker
Hindi वेतन, तनख़्वाह
- वेतन (vetan)money paid to a worker
- तनख़्वाह (tanxvāh)money paid to a worker
- मासिक वेतन (māsik vetan)money paid to a worker
- दिहाड़ी (dihāṛī)money paid to a worker
- पगार (pagār)money paid to a worker
- मेहनताना (mehantānā)money paid to a worker
Hungarian bér, órabér
- bérmoney paid to a worker
- órabérmoney paid to a worker
- folytatto conduct or carry out
- viselto conduct or carry out
- -zikto conduct or carry out
- -ezto conduct or carry out
Icelandic laun, heyja stríð
- launmoney paid to a worker
- heyja stríðto conduct or carry out
- heyjato conduct or carry out
Indonesian gaji
- gajimoney paid to a worker
Italian salario, paga
- salariomoney paid to a worker
- pagamoney paid to a worker
- condurreto conduct or carry out
Japanese 給料, サラリー
- 給料 (kyūryō)money paid to a worker
- サラリー (sararī)money paid to a worker
- 賃金 (chingin)money paid to a worker
- 月給 (gekkyū)money paid to a worker
- 行う (okonau)to conduct or carry out
Korean 임금, 급료
- 임금 (imgeum)money paid to a worker
- 급료 (geumnyo)money paid to a worker
- 봉급 (bonggeup)money paid to a worker
- 삯 (sak)money paid to a worker
- 품삯 (pumsak)money paid to a worker
- 월급 (wolgeup)money paid to a worker
Latin mercēs, manupretium
- mercēsmoney paid to a worker
- manupretiummoney paid to a worker
Latvian alga
- algamoney paid to a worker
Lithuanian užmokestis, alga
- užmokestismoney paid to a worker
- algamoney paid to a worker
Malay gaji
- gajimoney paid to a worker
Māori utu-ā-haora, makawe
- utu-ā-haoramoney paid to a worker
- makaweto conduct or carry out
Norwegian Bokmål lønn
- lønnmoney paid to a worker
Polish pensja, płaca
- pensjamoney paid to a worker
- płacamoney paid to a worker
- prowadzićto conduct or carry out
- toczyćto conduct or carry out
Portuguese salário, ordenado
- saláriomoney paid to a worker
- ordenadomoney paid to a worker
- remuneraçãomoney paid to a worker
- conduzirto conduct or carry out
- travarto conduct or carry out
Romanian plată, salariu
- platămoney paid to a worker
- salariumoney paid to a worker
- leafămoney paid to a worker
Russian за́работная пла́та, зарпла́та
- за́работная пла́та (zárabotnaja pláta)money paid to a worker
- зарпла́та (zarpláta)money paid to a worker
- за́работок (zárabotok)money paid to a worker
- жа́лование (žálovanije)money paid to a worker
- вести́ (vestí)to conduct or carry out
- проводи́ть (provodítʹ)to conduct or carry out
Scottish Gaelic cosnadh, pàigh
- cosnadhmoney paid to a worker
- pàighmoney paid to a worker
- tuarasdalmoney paid to a worker
Slovak mzda, plat
- mzdamoney paid to a worker
- platmoney paid to a worker
Spanish salario, sueldo
- salariomoney paid to a worker
- sueldomoney paid to a worker
- jornalmoney paid to a worker
- soldadamoney paid to a worker
- hacerto conduct or carry out
- librarto conduct or carry out
- moverto conduct or carry out
- reñirto conduct or carry out
- trabarto conduct or carry out
- entablarto conduct or carry out
- empeñarto conduct or carry out
- confligirto conduct or carry out
- conflictuarto conduct or carry out
- emprenderto conduct or carry out
Swahili mshahara
- mshaharamoney paid to a worker
Swedish lön, timlön
- lönmoney paid to a worker
- timlönmoney paid to a worker
- förato conduct or carry out
Tagalog sahod, suweldo
- sahodmoney paid to a worker
- suweldomoney paid to a worker
Thai ค่าจ้าง, ค่าแรง
- ค่าจ้าง (kâa-jâang)money paid to a worker
- ค่าแรง (kâa-rɛɛng)money paid to a worker
- ค่าแรงงาน (kâa-rɛɛng-ngaan)money paid to a worker
Turkish ücret, gündelik
- ücretmoney paid to a worker
- gündelikmoney paid to a worker
- yevmiyemoney paid to a worker
- maaşmoney paid to a worker
- aylıkmoney paid to a worker
Ukrainian заробі́тна пла́та, зарпла́та
- заробі́тна пла́та (zarobítna pláta)money paid to a worker
- зарпла́та (zarpláta)money paid to a worker
- запла́та (zapláta)money paid to a worker
Urdu ویتَن, اَجْرَت
- ویتَن (vetan)money paid to a worker
- اَجْرَت (ajrat)money paid to a worker
- تَنْخواہ (tanxvāh)money paid to a worker
- مِحَنْتانَہ (mihantāna)money paid to a worker
- پَگار (pagār)money paid to a worker
- طَلَب (talab)money paid to a worker
- اُجْرَت (ujrat)money paid to a worker
Vietnamese lương
- lươngmoney paid to a worker
Yiddish לוין
- לוין (loyn)money paid to a worker
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with wage
Anagrams
Cite this entry
wage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wage
“wage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wage. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wage,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wage.
Source: wage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.