wage
Americannoun
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Often wages. money that is paid or received for work or services, as by the hour, day, or week.
- Synonyms:
- remuneration, compensation, emolument, earnings
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Economics. Usually wages. the share of the products of industry received by labor for its work (as distinct from the share going to capital).
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(used with a singular or plural verb) Usually wages. recompense or return.
The wages of sin is death.
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Obsolete. a pledge or security.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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(often plural) payment in return for work or services, esp that made to workmen on a daily, hourly, weekly, or piece-work basis Compare salary
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( as modifier )
wage freeze
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(plural) economics the portion of the national income accruing to labour as earned income, as contrasted with the unearned income accruing to capital in the form of rent, interest, and dividends
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(often plural) recompense, return, or yield
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an obsolete word for pledge
Related Words
See pay 1.
Other Word Forms
- underwage noun
- wageless adjective
- wagelessness noun
Etymology
Origin of wage
First recorded in 1275–1325; (noun) Middle English: “pledge, security,” from Anglo-French; Old French guage gage 1, from unattested Vulgar Latin wadium, from Germanic ( wed ); (verb) Middle English wagen “to pledge,” from Anglo-French wagier; Old French guagier, from unattested Vulgar Latin wadiāre, derivative of wadium
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It provides paid work experience at the London living wage to homeless people, disabled people, and prison leavers.
From BBC
When men date a boss, the increase in wages is even more pronounced—more than twice what women experienced, she says.
Early data show wages are increasing for AI-exposed jobs that “place a high value on a worker’s tacit knowledge and experience,” wrote J. Scott Davis, an assistant vice president in the Dallas Fed’s research department.
From MarketWatch
“The wages are higher in the U.S. but the quality of life is higher in Europe,” says 41-year-old Chris Ford, who lives in Berlin.
"Accordingly, more significant mitigating actions would be required such as further player disposals to generate transfer fee income and wage savings, or additional funding from the shareholders, or a combination thereof."
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
