# wage

> English word · Noun · IPA /weɪd͡ʒ/ · frequency rank #3,402

## Definitions
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.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **we** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-we)
- **was** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-was)
- **way** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-way)
- **war** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-war)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wwe)
- **wax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wax)
- **wee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wee)
- **wan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wan)
- **wig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wig)
- **WAL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wal)
- **wah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wah)
- **wat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wat)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-woe)
- **wai** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wai)
- **Wie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wie)
- **wye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wye)
- **WAP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wap)
- **WAV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-wav)
- **were** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-were)
- **want** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wage-vs-want)

## Common misspellings (5)
`awge`, `waeg`, `wagge`, `wgae`, `wwage`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wage