wage

/weɪd͡ʒ/

//weɪd͡ʒ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"wage" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“wage” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,402. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,402
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wage · wage · English

wage · rank #3,402 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,402
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH visiting

Nearest frequency peer: visiting (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “wage”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “wage” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

wage vs we
50% similar
wage vs was
50% similar
wage vs way
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for wage
PropertyValue
Headwordwage
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/weɪd͡ʒ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#3,402
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “wage”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).wagelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “visiting” (#3,401), “we'd” (#3,403), “Victoria” (#3,400). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “wage” is #3,402. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around wage (IPA /weɪd͡ʒ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,402 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "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.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for wage, with forms such as "awge", "waeg", and "wagge". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "we", "was", "way", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 *wad… The correct English form is wage, spelled W-A-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how wage appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Before her promotion, her wages were 20% less.

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

earningspaysalary

This word in other languages

salario(Español)salaire(Français)Lohn(Deutsch)salário(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • awge
  • waeg
  • wagge
  • wgae
  • wwage

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wage - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

awge2waeg2wagge1wgae2wwage1
Edit distance from "wage"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "wage"?
"wage" is spelled W-A-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /weɪd͡ʒ/.
What does "wage" mean?
As a noun, "wage" means: 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.
What words are commonly confused with "wage"?
"wage" is commonly confused with "we", "was", "way". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wage"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wage" is /weɪd͡ʒ/. 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 "wage"?
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-Ger... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "wage", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

we'd#3,403Andy#3,405tape#3,398bags#3,407

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

mini5 variantsIraq5 variantspizza5 variantsDave5 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list