Header image of wall of bricks Open menu Close menu

-age

Forming nouns.

Old French, based on Latin ‑aticum, neuter form of the adjectival ending ‑aticus.

Some of the oldest examples came into English from French, such as language, voyage, or courage. Many others have been formed subsequently in English on their models. They are a diverse collection. A few examples of a large group are coinage, cottage, damage, marriage, mileage, mortgage, peerage, plumage, postage, village, and voltage. Some relatively recent borrowings from French retain their French pronunciation: entourage, montage.

Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Your comments are very welcome.