us·age

(yo͞o′sĭj, -zĭj)

a. The act, manner, or amount of using; use: patterns of computer usage; an instrument that measures water usage.

b. The act or manner of treating; treatment: subjected the car to rough usage.

a. Habitual or accepted practice: customs that have faded from common usage.

b. A usual, habitual, or accepted practice: manners and other social usages.

a. The way in which words or phrases are actually used, spoken, or written in a speech community: "Dictionaries are but the depositories of words already legitimated by usage" (Thomas Jefferson).

b. A particular expression in speech or writing: a nonce usage.

[Middle English, from Old French, from us, from Latin ūsus, from past participle of ūtī, to use.]

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.

usage

(ˈjuːsɪdʒ; -zɪdʒ)

1. the act or a manner of using; use; employment

2. constant use, custom, or habit

3. something permitted or established by custom or practice

4. (Linguistics) what is actually said in a language, esp as contrasted with what is prescribed

[C14: via Old French, from Latin ūsus use (n)]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

us•age

(ˈyu sɪdʒ, -zɪdʒ)

n.

1. a customary way of doing something; a custom or practice.

2. the customary manner in which a language or a form of a language is spoken or written: a grammar based on usage rather than on arbitrary notions of correctness.

3. a particular instance of this: a usage borrowed from French.

4. any manner of doing or handling something; treatment: rough usage.

5. habitual or customary use; long-continued practice.

6. an act of using or employing; use.

[1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Medieval Latin ūsāticum, derivative of Latin ūsus (see use)]

usage: The nouns usage and use are related in origin and meaning and to some extent overlap in their use. use is more common. Perhaps in the belief that it is the more impressive term, usage is sometimes used where use would be the appropriate choice: Has your usage of a personal computer made the work any easier?

usage

The way in which expressions are actually used by people, or a particular expression that is used.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	usage - the act of using; "he warned against the use of narcotic drugs"; "skilled in the utilization of computers" use, utilisation, utilization, exercise, employment activity - any specific behavior; "they avoided all recreational activity" practice - the exercise of a profession; "the practice of the law"; "I took over his practice when he retired" play - utilization or exercise; "the play of the imagination" misuse, abuse - improper or excessive use; "alcohol abuse"; "the abuse of public funds" exploitation, development - the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful; "the development of Alaskan resources"; "the exploitation of copper deposits" recycling - the act of processing used or abandoned materials for use in creating new products application, practical application - the act of bringing something to bear; using it for a particular purpose; "he advocated the application of statistics to the problem"; "a novel application of electronics to medical diagnosis"
	2.	usage - accepted or habitual practice custom, usance practice, pattern - a customary way of operation or behavior; "it is their practice to give annual raises"; "they changed their dietary pattern" Americanism - a custom that is peculiar to the United States or its citizens Anglicism, Britishism - a custom that is peculiar to England or its citizens consuetude - a custom or usage that has acquired the force of law couvade - a custom among some peoples whereby the husband of a pregnant wife is put to bed at the time of bearing the child Germanism - a custom that is peculiar to Germany or its citizens habit, use - (psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition; "owls have nocturnal habits"; "she had a habit twirling the ends of her hair"; "long use had hardened him to it" hijab - the custom in some Islamic societies of women dressing modestly outside the home; "she observes the hijab and does not wear tight clothing" survival - something that survives ritual, rite - any customary observance or practice
	3.	usage - the customary manner in which a language (or a form of a language) is spoken or written; "English usage"; "a usage borrowed from French" language, linguistic communication - a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols; "he taught foreign languages"; "the language introduced is standard throughout the text"; "the speed with which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written"

usage

noun

1. phraseology, terminology, parlance, mode of expression, way of speaking or writing Certain words may not even be in modern usage.

2. use, operation, employment, running, control, management, treatment, handling Parts of the motor wore out because of constant usage.

3. practice, method, procedure, form, rule, tradition, habit, regime, custom, routine, convention, mode, matter of course, wont a fruitful convergence with past usage and custom

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

usage

noun

1. The act of putting into play:

application, employment, exercise, exertion, implementation, operation, play, use, utilization.

2. A quantity consumed:

consumption, use.

3. A habitual way of behaving:

consuetude, custom, habit, habitude, manner, practice, praxis, usance, use, way, wont.

Translations

Gebrauch SprachgebrauchSprachverwendungVerbrauch Verwendung

χρήση

costumbre empleo uso

käsittelykäytäntökäyttökielenkäyttöpuhetapa

coutume emploi usage

gyakorlathasználatszóhasználatszokás

uso usanza

使い方用法

использование обращение обыкновение обычай привычка

usage

[ˈjuːzɪdʒ] N

1. (= custom) → costumbre f, usanza f
an ancient usage of the Celts → una antigua usanza de los celtas

2. (Ling) (= use, way of using) → uso m
in the usage of railwaymen → en el lenguaje de los ferroviarios, en el uso ferroviario

3. (= handling) → manejo m; (= treatment) → tratos mpl
ill usage → mal tratamiento m
it's had some rough usage → ha sido manejado con bastante dureza

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

usage

[ˈjuːsɪdʒ ˈjuːzɪdʒ] n

(LINGUISTICS) → usage m
in common usage → couramment employé(e)

(= use) [machine, equipment, car, land, energy, water] → usage m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

usage

(= treatment, handling) → Behandlung f; it’s had some rough usage → es ist ziemlich unsanft behandelt worden

(= custom, practice) → Brauch m, → Sitte f, → Usus m (geh); it’s common usage → es ist allgemein üblich or Sitte or Brauch

(Ling: = use, way of using) → Gebrauch m no pl, → Anwendung f; words in common usage → allgemein gebräuchliche Wörter pl; it’s common in Northern usage → es ist im Norden allgemein gebräuchlich; it’s not correct usage → so darf das nicht gebraucht werden; usage notes (in book) → Anwendungshinweise pl

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

usage

[ˈjuːzɪdʒ] n

a. (Ling) (use, way of using) → uso
to be in common usage → essere nell'uso comune

b. (custom) → usanza, uso

c. (treatment, handling, use) → uso; (of energy) → utilizzo
it's had some rough usage → è stato un po' bistrattato

usage

n. uso, costumbre.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

He was a native of Cape Cod; and hence, according to local usage, was called a Cape-Cod-man.

View in context

Half savage as the man showed, with no covering on his matted head, with his brown arms bare to between the elbow and the shoulder, with the loose knot of a looser kerchief lying low on his bare breast in a wilderness of beard and whisker, with such dress as he wore seeming to be made out of the mud that begrimed his boat, still there was a business-like usage in his steady gaze.

View in context

The author remonstrates against the usage. The King redresses it.

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In the stable we heard no more for some time, as it was the men's dinner hour, but when Joe came next into the stable I saw he was in high spirits; he gave me a good-natured slap, and said, "We won't see such things done, will we, old fellow?" We heard afterward that he had given his evidence so clearly, and the horses were in such an exhausted state, bearing marks of such brutal usage, that the carter was committed to take his trial, and might possibly be sentenced to two or three months in prison.

View in context

For by deviating in exceptional cases from the normal idiom, the language will gain distinction; while, at the same time, the partial conformity with usage will give perspicuity.

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Along the leafy road which skirted a narrow, tortuous stream in central Louisiana, rumbled an old fashioned cabriolet, much the worse for hard and rough usage over country roads and lanes.

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According to usage they were pumping the ship next morning; and lo!

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Spelling and punctuation have been largely brought into conformity with modern British usage.

View in context

"Nay," replied she, "after your cruel usage of me when I saw you last, killing me would, perhaps, be too great kindness for me to expect."

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The usage on board of her was tyrannical; the sick had been inhumanly neglected; the provisions had been doled out in scanty allowance; and her cruises were unreasonably protracted.

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I knew a woman that was so dexterous with a fellow, who indeed deserved no better usage, that while he was busy with her another way, conveyed his purse with twenty guineas in it out of his fob-pocket, where he had put it for fear of her, and put another purse with gilded counters in it into the room of it.

View in context

In like manner, all kinds of deficient and impolitic usages are referred to the national love of trade; though, oddly enough, it would be a weighty charge against a foreigner that he regarded the Americans as a trading people.

View in context