alnage

English

WOTD – 11 October 2015

Alternative forms

• ulnage (obsolete)

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔːlnɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

alnage (plural alnages)

1. (historical) 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.
   • 1896, Edwin Arlington Robinson, The Clerks:

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

2. (historical) A duty paid for such measurement.

Derived terms

• alnager

References

• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 248.
• “alnage”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Angela, Galena, anlage, galena, lagena