wage

See also: Wage, wagę, and wäge

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /weɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪdʒ

Etymology 1

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.

Noun

wage (plural wages)

1. (often in plural) An 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.

   Before her promotion, her wages were 20% less.

Synonyms

• earnings, pay, salary

Derived terms

Terms derived from wage (noun)

• hourly wage
• lost wages
• minimum wage
• wage credit
• wage moderation
• wage scale

Translations

money paid to a worker

• Afrikaans: loon
• Albanian: rrogë (sq) f
• Arabic: أَجْر‎ (ar) m (ʔajr), رَاتِب‎ m (rātib)
• Armenian: վաստակ (hy) (vastak), ռոճիկ (hy) (ṙočik)
• Azerbaijani: maaş (az), aylıq, donluq, əmək haqqı
• Belarusian: зарабо́тная пла́та f (zarabótnaja pláta), зарпла́та f (zarpláta)
• Bengali: বেতন (beton)
• Bulgarian: запла́та (bg) f (zapláta), на́дница (bg) f (nádnica)
• Burmese: လုပ်ခ (my) (luphka.)
• Catalan: salari (ca) m, sou (ca) m, paga (ca) f, honorari (ca) m, estipendi m, remuneració f, retribució (ca) f
• Cebuano: suhol
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 人工 (yue) (jan⁴ gung¹), 薪水 (san¹ seoi²)

  Dungan: гунчян (gunči͡an)

  Mandarin: 工資／工资 (zh) (gōngzī), 薪金 (zh) (xīnjīn), 薪水 (zh) (xīnshuǐ), 工錢／工钱 (zh) (gōngqián)

• Czech: mzda (cs) f
• Danish: løn (da) c
• Dutch: loon (nl) n, salaris (nl) n, arbeidsloon (nl) n
• Esperanto: salajro
• Estonian: palk (et)
• Finnish: palkka (fi)
• French: salaire (fr) m
• Galician: paga (gl) f, salario (gl) m
• Georgian: ხელფასი (ka) (xelpasi)
• German: Lohn (de) m, Arbeitsentgelt n
• Greek: μισθός (el) m (misthós), (colloquial, daily wage) μεροκάματο (el) n (merokámato)

  Ancient: μισθός m (misthós), ὀψώνιον n (opsṓnion)

• Gujarati: મજૂરી (majūrī), વેતન (vetan)
• Hebrew: משכורת \ מַשְׂכֹּרֶת‎ (he) f (maskorét), שָׂכָר‎ (he) m (sakhár)
• Hindi: वेतन (hi) m (vetan), तनख़्वाह f (tanxvāh), मासिक वेतन m (māsik vetan), दिहाड़ी (hi) f (dihāṛī)
• Hungarian: bér (hu), órabér (hu)
• Icelandic: laun (is) n pl
• Indonesian: gaji (id)
• Interlingua: paga (ia), salario (ia)
• Italian: salario (it) m, paga (it) f
• Japanese: 給料 (ja) (きゅうりょう, kyūryō), サラリー (sararī), 賃金 (ja) (ち​んぎん, chingin)
• Kazakh: айлық (ailyq), жалақы (kk) (jalaqy), еңбекақы (eñbekaqy)
• Khmer: ប្រាក់ខែ (prak khae), បរិលាភ (paʼreliəp), ទិនិកា (km) (tinikaa)
• Korean: 임금(賃金) (ko) (imgeum), 급료(給料) (ko) (geumnyo), 봉급(俸給) (ko) (bonggeup), 삯 (ko) (sak), 품삯 (pumsak)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: meaş (ku) m, miz (ku) m, muçe (ku) m, destheq (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: кызмат акы (kızmat akı), эмгек акы (emgek akı), айлык (ky) (aylık)
• Lao: ຄ່າຈ້າງ (khā chāng), ຄ່າແຮງງານ (lo) (khā hǣng ngān)
• Latgalian: moksa, lūne
• Latin: mercēs f, manupretium n
• Latvian: alga f
• Lithuanian: užmokestis m, alga (lt) f
• Luxembourgish: Loun m
• Macedonian: пла́та f (pláta)
• Malay: gaji (ms)
• Malayalam: വേതന (vētana), കൂലി (ml) (kūli)
• Maltese: paga f
• Manchu: ᠪᠠᠰᠠ (basa)
• Maori: utu-ā-haora (per hour)
• Middle English: wage, mede, hire
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: цалин хөлс (calin xöls), цалин (mn) (calin)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lønn (no) m or f

• Occitan: salari (oc) m
• Old Prussian: algā
• Persian: مُزْد‎ (fa) (mozd), دَسْتْمُزْد‎ (fa) (dastmozd), کارْمُزْد‎ (fa) (kârmozd)
• Plautdietsch: Jehault m
• Polish: pensja (pl) f, płaca (pl) f
• Portuguese: salário (pt) m, ordenado (pt) m, remuneração (pt) f
• Romanian: plată (ro) f, salariu (ro) n, leafă (ro) f
• Russian: за́работная пла́та (ru) f (zárabotnaja pláta), зарпла́та (ru) f (zarpláta), за́работок (ru) m (zárabotok), жа́лование (ru) n (žálovanije)
• Scottish Gaelic: cosnadh m, pàigh m, tuarasdal m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пла́та f (Bosnian, Serbian), пла́ћа f (Croatian)

  Roman: pláta (sh) f (Bosnian, Serbian), pláća (sh) f (Croatian)

• Slovak: mzda f, plat m
• Slovene: plača (sl) f
• Spanish: salario (es) m, sueldo (es) m
• Sudovian: alga f
• Swahili: mshahara (sw)
• Swedish: lön (sv) c
• Tagalog: sahod, suweldo
• Tajik: маош (tg) (maoš), моҳона (mohona), музди кор (muzdi kor), дастмузд (dastmuzd)
• Tatar: хезмәт хакы (xezmät xaqı), айлык (tt) (aylıq)
• Thai: ค่าจ้าง (th) (kâa-jâang)
• Turkish: ücret (tr), gündelik (tr), yevmiye (tr), maaş (tr), aylık (tr)
• Turkmen: iş haky, aýlyk (tk)
• Ukrainian: заробі́тна пла́та f (zarobítna pláta), зарпла́та f (zarpláta), запла́та f (zapláta)
• Urdu: ویتَن‎ m (vetan), اَجْرَت‎ f (ajrat), تَنْخواہ‎ f (tanxvāh)
• Uzbek: maosh (uz), moyana (uz), oylik (uz), ish haqi
• Uyghur: مائاش‎ (ma'ash), ئايلىق‎ (ayliq), ئىش ھەققى‎‎ (ish heqqi‎)
• Vietnamese: lương (vi)

Etymology 2

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.

Verb

wage (third-person singular simple present wages, present participle waging, simple past and past participle waged)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To wager, bet.
   • 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):

     My life I never held but as a pawn / To wage against thine enemies

2. (transitive, obsolete) To expose oneself to, as a risk; to incur, as a danger; to venture; to hazard.
   • 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):

     I fear the power of Percy is too weak / To wage an instant trial with the King.

   • 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]:

     to wake and wage a danger profitless.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To employ for wages; to hire.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xviij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:

     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

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 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:

     [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.

4. (transitive) To conduct or carry out (a war or other contest).
   • 2019 May 5, Danette Chavez, “Campaigns are Waged On and Off the Game Of Thrones Battlefield (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 28 January 2021:

     Setting 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.

   • 1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC:

     The two are waging war, and the one triumphs by the destruction of the other.

   • 1709, John Dryden, Mac Flecknoe:

     pond'ring which of all his Sons was fit / To Reign, and wage immortal War with Wit

5. (transitive) To adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 18:

     Thou that doest liue in later times, must wage / Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage.

6. (obsolete, law, UK) To give security for the performance of

Usage notes

• "Wage" collocates strongly with "war", leading to expressions such as To wage peace, or To wage football implying the inclusion of a large element of conflict in the action.

Derived terms

• wager (agent noun)

Translations

to conduct or carry out

• Arabic: شَنَّ‎ (šanna)
• Azerbaijani: aparmaq (az), yeritmək (az), həyata keçirmək (az), etmək (az)
• Bulgarian: заемам се (zaemam se), наемам се (naemam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 發動／发动 (zh) (fādòng)

• Dutch: voeren (nl), leiden (nl), voeren (nl)
• Finnish: ryhtyä (fi)
• French: mener (fr)
• German: führen (de)
• Hungarian: folytat (hu), visel (hu), -zik (hu), -ez (hu)
• Icelandic: heyja stríð (to wage war), heyja
• Italian: condurre (it)
• Japanese: 行う (ja) (おこなう, okonau)
• Maori: makawe (mi)
• Occitan: menar (oc)
• Polish: prowadzić (pl) impf, (war) toczyć (pl) impf
• Portuguese: conduzir (pt), (war) travar (pt)
• Russian: вести́ (ru) impf (vestí), проводи́ть (ru) impf (provodítʹ)
• Spanish: hacer (es), librar (es), mover (es)
• Swedish: föra (sv)

References

• “wage”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• waeg

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

wage

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of wagen

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

wage

1. inflection of wagen:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch wāga, from Proto-West Germanic *wāgu.

Noun

wâge f

1. weight
2. a certain weight, of which the exact value varied
3. weighing scale
4. weighhouse

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• wâgen

Descendants

• Dutch: waag

Further reading

• “waghe (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “wage (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old Northern French wage, from Frankish *wadi, from Proto-Germanic *wadją. Doublet of gage and wed.

Alternative forms

• wag, vage

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaːdʒ(ə)/

Noun

wage (plural wages)

1. A wage; earnings.
2. Money reserved for the payment of salaries.
3. An earned positive consequence.
4. A promise, pact, or agreement.

Related terms

• wagen

Descendants

• English: wage
• Scots: wage

References

• “wāǧe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-23.

Etymology 2

Verb

wage

1. Alternative form of wagen

Old French

Etymology 1

From Old Norse vágr.

Noun

wage f (oblique plural wages, nominative singular wage, nominative plural wages)

1. wave (moving part of a liquid, etc.)

Etymology 2

see gage

Noun

wage m (oblique plural wages, nominative singular wages, nominative plural wage)

1. Alternative form of gage

Proto-Norse

Romanization

wāgē

1. Romanization of ᚹᚨᚷᛖ