English
wage
Wage comes from Middle English wage ‘a wage’, from Anglo-Norman wage, from Frankish *waddī, from Proto-Germanic *wadją ‘pledge’, from PIE *wedʰ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wedʰ-‘to pledge’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wadją‘pledge’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*waddīreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gauge
- Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400wagenorthern variant of gauge
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400same form
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a wage’
- Englishtodaysame form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wedʰ-‘to pledge’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wadją‘pledge’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*waddīreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gauge
- Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400wagenorthern variant of gauge
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400same form
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a wage’
- Englishtodaysame form
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- ‘to pledge, redeem a pledge’
through Proto-Germanic *wadją ‘pledge’
Another origin of wage
- Frankishc. 250–700*waddīuncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400guagier
- Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400wagiernorthern variant of guagier
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wagen‘to pledge’
- Englishtodaywage
From Middle English wagen (‘to pledge’), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wagier, a northern variant of Old French guagier (whence modern French gager), itself either from guage or from a derivative of Frankish *waddī, possibly through a Vulgar Latin intermediate *wadiō from *wadium (see the noun above).
Today it means
noun 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.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- / wage