Etymograph

English

gage

Gage comes from Proto-Germanic *wadją ‘wager, stake, pledge’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- ‘to bind’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wedʰ-‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wodʰ-yo-mreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wadją‘wager, stake, pledge’reconstructed
  4. Frankishc. 250–700*waddireconstructed
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600gager
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gage
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wedʰ-‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wodʰ-yo-mreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wadją‘wager, stake, pledge’reconstructed
  4. Frankishc. 250–700*waddireconstructed
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600gager
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gage
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Great debts / Wherein my time, sometimes too prodigal,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- ‘to bind’

weed, bahu, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *wadją ‘wager, stake, pledge’

wedding, wed, engagement, wage, wedlock, 3 more

Today it means

verb To bind (someone) by pledge or security; to engage.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- / gage

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