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stage

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "stage", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "stage" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "stage" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

stage is aEnglishnoun. It means: A phase. Pronounced /steɪd͡ʒ/. It ranks #837 in English word frequency. Often confused with stay and star.

Key facts for stage
PropertyValue
Headwordstage
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/steɪd͡ʒ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#837
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of stage in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for stage is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /steɪd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #837 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for stage, with forms such as "satge", "sstage", and "staeg". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "stay", "star", "stan", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English stage, from Old French estage (“dwelling, residence; position, situation, condition”), from Old French ester (“to be standing, be located”). Cognate with Old English stæþþan (“to make staid, stay”), Old Norse steðja (“to place, provide, … Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is stage, spelled S-T-A-G-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A phase.
  2. 2
    One of the portions of a device (such as a rocket or thermonuclear weapon) which are used or activated in a particular order, one after another.
  3. 3
    A platform; a surface, generally elevated, upon which show performances or other public events are given.
  4. 4
    A floor or storey of a house.
  5. 5
    A floor elevated for the convenience of mechanical work, etc.; scaffolding; staging.
  6. 6
    A platform, often floating, serving as a kind of wharf.
  7. 7
    A stagecoach, an enclosed horsedrawn carriage used to carry passengers; the service that such coaches provide; a company that operates such service.
  8. 8
    A place of rest on a regularly travelled road; a station, way station; a place appointed for a relay of horses.
  9. 9
    A degree of advancement in a journey; one of several portions into which a road or course is marked off; the distance between two places of rest on a road.
  10. 10
    The number of an electronic circuit’s block, such as a filter, an amplifier, etc.
  11. 11
    The place on a microscope where the slide is located for viewing.
  12. 12
    A level; one of the areas making up the game.
  13. 13
    A place where anything is publicly exhibited, or a remarkable affair occurs; the scene.
  14. 14
    The succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic time scale.
  15. 15
    An internship.
  16. 16
    The notional space within which stereo sounds are positioned, determining where they will appear to come from when played back.
  17. 17
    The profession of an actor.

Etymology

From Middle English stage, from Old French estage (“dwelling, residence; position, situation, condition”), from Old French ester (“to be standing, be located”). Cognate with Old English stæþþan (“to make staid, stay”), Old Norse steðja (“to place, provide, confirm, allow”), Old English stede (“state, status, standing, place, station, site”). More at stead. Doublet of étage.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: satge,sstage,staeg,stagge,stgae,sttage,tsage

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for stage

Misspelling Variants of "stage"

satge5sstage6staeg5stagge6stgae5sttage6tsage5
Misspelling Variants of "stage"

Frequency rank: #837 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stage"?
"stage" is spelled S-T-A-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /steɪd͡ʒ/.
What does "stage" mean?
As a noun, "stage" means: A phase.
What words are commonly confused with "stage"?
"stage" is commonly confused with "stay", "star", "stan". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stage"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stage" is /steɪd͡ʒ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "stage"?
From Middle English stage, from Old French estage (“dwelling, residence; position, situation, condition”), from Old French ester (“to be standing, be located”). Cognate with Old English stæþþan (“to make staid, stay”), Old Norse steðja (“to place,... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.