-age
suff.1. a. Collection; mass: sewerage.
b. Amount: footage.
2. Relationship; connection: parentage.
3. Condition; state: vagabondage.
4. a. An action: blockage.
b. Result of an action: breakage.
5. Residence or place of: vicarage.
6. Charge or fee: cartage.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *-āticum, abstract n. suff., from Latin -āticum, n. and adj. suff.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
-age
suffix forming nouns 1. indicating a collection, set, or group: acreage; baggage.
2. indicating a process or action or the result of an action: haulage; passage; breakage.
3. indicating a state, condition, or relationship: bondage; parentage.
4. indicating a house or place: orphanage.
5. indicating a charge or fee: postage.
6. indicating a rate: dosage; mileage.
[from Old French, from Late Latin -āticum, noun suffix, neuter of -āticus, adjectival suffix, from -ātus -ate1 + -icus -ic]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
age
(eɪdʒ)
n., v. aged, ag•ing age•ing. n. 1. the length of time during which a being or thing has existed; length of life or existence to the time mentioned: trees of unknown age.
2. a period of human life, measured by years from birth, when a person is regarded as capable of assuming certain privileges or responsibilities: the age of consent.
3. the particular period of life at which a person becomes qualified or disqualified for something: to be over the age for military service.
4. one of the periods or stages of human life: middle age.
5. advanced years; old age: His eyes were dim with age.
6. a generation or a series of generations: ages yet unborn.
7. the period of history in which an individual lives: the most famous architect of the age.
8. (often cap.) a particular period of history; a historical epoch: the Periclean Age.
9. Usu., ages. a long period of time: You've been away for ages.
10. the average life expectancy of an individual or the individuals of a class or species: The age of a horse is from 25 to 30 years.
11. (
often cap.)
a. a period of the history of the earth distinguished by some special feature: the Ice Age.
b. a unit of geological time, shorter than an epoch, during which the rocks comprising a stage were formed.
v.i. 12. to grow old: She is aging gracefully.
13. to mature, as wine, cheese, or wood.
v.t. 14. to cause to grow or seem old: Fear aged him overnight.
15. to bring to maturity; make ready for use: to age wine.
Idioms: of age, having reached adulthood, esp. as specified by law: to come of age.
[1225–75; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French aage, eage <aé (< Latin aetātem acc. of ae(vi)tās age; aev(um) time, lifetime)]
-age
a suffix typically forming mass or abstract nouns from various parts of speech, occurring orig. in loanwords from French (courage; voyage) and productive in English with the meanings “aggregate” (coinage; peerage; trackage), “process” (coverage), “the outcome of” as either “the fact of” or “the physical effect or remains of” (spoilage; wreckage), “place of living or business” (brokerage; parsonage), “social standing or relationship” (bondage; marriage), and “quantity, measure, or charge” (footage).
[Middle English < Old French < Latin -āticum, neuter of -āticus adj. suffix]
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