gage
/ɡeɪd͡ʒ/verb, noun
gage is spelled G-A-G-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “gage vs gauge” about 9,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, gage means “To bind (someone) by pledge or security; to engage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gage?
| Letters | 4: G-A-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is gage?
Gage appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gage?
- /ɡeɪd͡ʒ/
Gage has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-gage.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with gage
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: gauge (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: gauge.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of gage
- gages present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- gaging participle, present
- gaged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gage mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To bind (someone) by pledge or security; to engage.
- 2
archaicTo bet or wager (something).
- 3
obsoleteTo deposit or give (something) as a pledge or security; to pawn.
- 4
USAlternative spelling of gauge.
noun
- 1
Something, such as a glove or other pledge, thrown down as a challenge to combat (now usually figurative).
- 2
obsoleteSomething valuable deposited as a guarantee or pledge; security, ransom.
- 3
A subspecies of plum, Prunus domestica subsp. italica.
- 4
USAlternative spelling of gauge.
- 5
datedslangMarijuana
- 6
UKarchaicslangA pint pot.
- 7
UKarchaicslangA drink.
- 8
UKarchaicslangA tobacco pipe.
- 9
UKarchaicslangA chamber pot.
- 10
UKarchaicslangA small quantity of anything.
- 11
UKobsoleteA quart pot.
noun
- 1
Initialism of Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does gage come from?
From Middle English gage, from later Old French or early Middle French gager (verb), (also guagier in Old French) gage (noun), ultimately from Frankish *waddi, from Proto-Germanic *wadją (whence English wed). Doublet of wage, from the same origin through the Old Northern French variant wage. See also mortgage.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).