| 释义 |
▪ I. wage, n.|weɪdʒ|
Forms: 4 Sc. vag, 4 Sc., 6 wag, 6 waige, wayge, pl. wagies, Sc. vaig(e, vage, 6–7 wadge, 4– wage.
[a. AF., OF. (north-eastern) wage (AL. wagium) = Central OF. guage, gage (mod.F. gage), Prov. gage-s, It. gaggio:—popular L. *wadium, of Teut. origin: see wed n.]
†1.
a. A pledge or security; = gage n.1 1. Phr. to hold, lay in wage. Obs.
[1183Pipe Roll 29 Hen. II (1911) 61 Henricus dec' de Wallebi debet .v. m. quia renuit dare wagium et plegium justiciariis.] 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 139 He sesed fiue castels, & held þam in his wage. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xli. (Agnes) 400 Here-of in vitnesyng remanis ay þe forsad ryng one þe fyngire of þat ymag of vad of weding in-to vag. 1513Douglas æneis v. iv. 132 Or thai thar land sul los or vassalage Thai had far levir lay thar lyf in wage. 1530Palsgr. 286/1 Wage or pledge, gaige. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 39 But th' Elfin knight, which ought that warlike wage, Disdaind to loose the meed he wonne in fray.
†b. A challenge or engagement to fight. In full, wage of battle. Cf. gage n.1 2. Obs.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 8476 So it was seyde to the Emperoure..How ffight was taken hem be-twene, And no man myȝt here ire a-swage And thei hadde ȝeuen to-gedur wage. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxvii. 113 And y⊇ same season ther was a wage of batel before the french king, betwene two noble and expert knightes.
2. A payment to a person for service rendered. Formerly used widely, e.g. for the salary or fee paid to persons of official or professional status. Now (exc. in rhetorical language) restricted to mean: The amount paid periodically, esp. by the day or week or month, for the labour or service of an employee, worker, or servant.
Commonly in pl. (after F. gages). The sing. is now either dial. or has a rhetorical flavour; but it has sometimes a special convenience with reference to a particular instance or amount (see e.g. quot. 1776 in a).
a. sing. (For living wage see living vbl. n. 7.)
13..Coer de L. 4264 Ther was non so lytyl page, That ne hadde to hys wage, Off gold and sylvyr [etc.]. 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 319 Ilk man þou reft his wage. c1440Promp. Parv. 513/1 Wage, or hyre, stipendium, salarium. 1510Sel. Cases Star Chamb. (Selden Soc.) II. 73 Lewed & evyll disposed persons..to whom..the seid Priour gave wage vjd by the day. 1522World & Child (facs.) A iij, Whan I was seuen yere of age I was sent to the worlde to take wage And this seuen yere I haue ben his page. 1621Sclater Quæst. Tythes (1623) F 5, Dreames any man hee meant it to the Lord as a Wage for his Worke. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. x. I. 177 When masters combine together in order to reduce the wages of their workmen, they commonly enter into a private bond or agreement, not to give more than a certain wage under a certain penalty. 1855W. G. Clark in Cambr. Ess. 287 Millions of childen..must needs commence their life of toil in the factory or the field, as soon as their physical strength enables them to get a day's wage for a day's work. 1877Morley Crit. Misc. Ser. ii. 204 The labourers, having little heart in work for which they had no wage.
b. pl.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 283 He þat toke ȝow ȝowre tytle shulde take ȝow ȝowre wages. 1429Rolls of Parlt. IV. 338/2 Ye seide Lord Talbot, servid the Kynges Fader..withoute takyng of any wages. 1444Ibid. V. 110/2 To arreze the wages of the Knyghtes of the shires. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xv. (1885) 146 It shall not be necessarie, þat the xij spirituell men off this covnsell haue so gret wages as the xij temporall men. 1540Test. Ebor. VI. 107, I will that a prest synge for my fayther..and he to have for his wadges vij markes in the yere. 1588Kyd Househ. Philos. Wks. (1901) 265 Gyuing euery one hys sallary or day wages. 1642J. M[arsh] Argt. conc. Militia 17 By the Law it is enacted, that no Knight Citizen or Burges, absent himself under the paine of the losse of their wages. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. viii. (init.) I. 78 The produce of labour constitutes the natural recompence or wages of labour. 1809Kendall Trav. I. xv. 169 A member would be thought not to earn what are called his wages. These wages amount to two dollars per diem. 1829Carlyle Jrnl. in Froude Life (1882) II. 83 Thus we have private individuals whose wages are equal to the wages of seven or eight thousand other individuals. 1872Raymond Mines 282 Wages are still low, $1 per day and board.
¶ The pl. was formerly often construed as sing.
1388[see 2 e]. 1539in Abstr. Protocols Town Clerks Glasgow (1897) IV. 118 Everilk ane to haif ane lyik waigis. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. ix. (1895) 302 Theire dayly wages is so lytle that it will not suffice for the same daye. 1621Sclater Quæst. Tythes Introd. (1623) B 1, How easie is it to answer, that Tythes was that inheritance, and Tythes is this wages. 1679L. Addison 1st St. Mahumedism 23 As for his wages, it amounted to so little, that it would not do him much service. 1731–9Tull Horse-hoeing Husb. Notes on Pref. (1822) 321 As their wages is supposed to be low, their masters find them in tools to work with.
†c. spec. The pay of a soldier. Chiefly pl. to take wages: to enlist, take service (with or under a commander). Obs.
1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 163 A hundreth knyghtes mo.. & fiue hundreth o fote, to whilk I salle pay Ilk day þer wages. 1436Rolls of Parlt. IV. 499/1 Wages of Werre for the said Soudeours. c1440Generydes 2441 With the Sowdon he will take no wage. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 216 He..wende that it had ben straunge knyghtes that were come vnto hym to take wages. 1535Coverdale 1 Macc. iii. 28 Kynge Antiochus..opened his treasury, and gaue his hoost a yeares wagies in honde. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 250 b, They also, which..take wages under them in this war. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxx. 181 The Wages, due to them that hold the publique Sword.
†d. Phr. at wage, under wages, at or of (a person's) wage or wages, in (a person's) wages: in the pay or service of another. to put out of wages: to discharge, cashier. Obs.
a1400Morte Arth. 302, I salle the forthire..Fifty thowsande mene,..Of my wage for to wende, whare so the lykes. c1400Mandeville (1839) v. 38 The Soudan may lede out of Egipt mo than 20000 Men of Armes... And alle tho ben at his Wages. 1420Waterton in Rymer Fœdera (1709) IX. 883 To come ovyr to zowe at zour Wage, Armyd and Arayde, as langys to thaire Estate to do zowe Service. c1470Henry Wallace v. 909 Xxxty with him off nobill men at wage. 1534Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. let. v. (1537) 110 And fynally,..ye entre newely into the wages of the worlde. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 187 When he espyed one of the souldiers..trymmyng a strop or loope to sette on his darte, he putte out of wages, and discharged of his roume. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 88 b, Many of the Britons..submitted themselues to the lorde regent..whom he gentely accepted and put them in wages. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. viii. (1895) 253 For them, whomewyth they be in wayges, they fyghte hardelye, fyerslye, and faythefullye. 1553Brende Q. Curtius P 1, The Greakes yt were in Darius wagies. 1594J. Melvill Autob. & Diary (Wodrow Soc.) 318 The King, with companies of horsmen and futtmen under wages. 1665Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 73 A mutiny for want of pay: which was an unavoydable evill in those parts, though in wages under a most wealthy King.
e. fig. Reward, recompense.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 396 Þat þou schal seche me þi-self..& foch þe such wages As þou deles me to day. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxii. (Laurence) 139 Fere mare Ioyful wictorag þu sal resawe syne to þi wag. 1388Wyclif Rom. vi. 22 The wagis [1382 hyris] of synne is deth. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 3886 Ne were that ȝe come in message, Veleyns dethe schulde be ȝoure wage. 1513Douglas æneis xii. xii. 175 Na for small wagis thai debait and stryfe, But apoun Turnus blude schedding and lyfe. 1549Coverdale Erasm. Par. 1 Pet. i. 3–9 They yt serue the world goe about to haue rewardes yt are transitory & wage that is slyppery. 1605Shakes. Lear v. iii. 303 All Friends shall Taste the wages of their vertue. a1770Jortin Serm. (1787) I. vi. 122 Yet we may shew the same temper..by loving our religion and liberties better than the wages of slavery and iniquity. 1864Swinburne Atalanta 2205 The gods give thee fair wage and dues of death. 1915A. Smellie Lift up your Heart i. 31 He, our Kinsman and Redeemer..bears no relationship to sin any more. He has shaken off its wage and tyranny.
†3. A payment for the use or possession of property. Obs. rare.
1447O. Bokenham Seyntys, Marg. 232 If she be bonde and vndyr seruage:..Hyr lord wyl I yeue ryht good wage And to my paramour hyr vndyrfonge. 1562in Strype Ann. Ref. xxvii. (1709) 286 The said incumbents paying to the owners, by the wage of a yearly pension, the yearly rent of all such impropriations. 1592West 1st Pt. Symbol. i. §25 Letting and hyring..is a Contract by consent of the making or vsing of some thing for a certeine rent, hier or wage. 1628Gaule Pract. Theories (1629) 183 How grossely doth hee [sc. Judas] vndervalue him in this sale, and wage, and rate?
4. attrib. and Comb.
a. simple attrib., as wage(s) bill, wage board, wage-book, wage claim, wage clerk, wage contract, wage cost, wage cut, wage demand, wage dispute, wage inflation, wage-labour, wage labourer, wage-level, wage negotiation, wage packet, wage payment, wage policy, wage push, wage-rate, wage restraint, wage-rigidity, wage-slave, wage-slavery, wage-snatch, wage spiral, wage structure, wage system, wage-work, wage-worker; wage-related, wage-working adjs.;
b. objective, as wage-bargainer, wage-bargaining, wage control, wage-earner, wage-earning vbl. n. and ppl. adj., wage-fixing, wage-paying, wage-winner; † wages-taking ppl. adj.;
c. appositive, as wage-price attrib., esp. in phr. wage-price spiral; also wages council, any of a number of joint management and employee councils succeeding the trade boards (from 1945), and responsible for determining the conditions of employment in certain trades; wage differential = differential n. 3 b; wage drift, the tendency for wages to rise above national rates through local overtime and other agreements; the extent of this increase; † wages-fellow, contemptuously, one who receives wages; wage freeze, a temporary fixing of wages at a certain level; cf. pay freeze s.v. pay- 4 and freeze n.1 (ii); wages-fund Pol. Econ. (also wage-fund), that part of the total capital of a community which is available for paying wages; wage hike N. Amer., a wage increase (cf. hike n. 2); wages-man Austral., a man who works for wages; wage scale, a graduated scale of wage rates for different levels of work; wage(s-sheet, the list of wages paid by an employer of labour; wage stop (also wages stop), the limitation of supplementary benefit to the level of the normal wage; hence wage-stop v. trans.; wage-stopped ppl. a.; wage unit (see quot. 1936).
1968Economist 23 Mar. 16/3 Any *wage bargainer worth his salt should be able to dress up a claim to fit the loose criteria ‘justifying’ a 3½ per cent increase.
1928Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry) iii. xvii. 209 In the boot and shoe trade..it has been thought desirable to keep *wage-bargaining apart from the general discussions carried on by the Joint Industrial Council. 1983Times 24 June 7/6 The fear that mass hunger striking will become a common tool of wage bargaining.
1919M. Beer Hist. Brit. Socialism I. ii. v. 169 The total *wage bill of the country diminished. 1923H. W. B. Joseph Labour Theory of Value in Karl Marx ii. 49 If all this is true..a capitalist ought not to be indifferent whether he economizes in his wages-bill or in his other expenditure. 1982T. Keneally Schindler's Ark viii. 96 The meeting of his wage bill was the least of Oskar's worries.
1925Scribner's Mag. Oct. 415/2 The regulation of wages has been put in the hands of *wage boards. 1930Economist 22 Mar. 651/1 The success of the Wages Boards..should be carefully considered. 1970Washington Post 30 Sept. b 11/5 A 6 per cent raise to 850,000 hard-pressed blue-collar (wage board) people.
1864Trollope Can you forgive Her? (1865) II. vii. 54, I don't suppose I've opened the *wages book half a dozen times since last July. 1960G. E. Evans Horse in Furrow ix. 115 These wages-books..contained the lists of jobs allocated to people employed on the farm, and the amount of wages due to them.
1971H. Wilson Labour Govt. xxxviii. 787 One of the main groups of printing unions, SOGAT, put in a large *wage-claim.
1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §939 *Wages clerk. 1961Evening Standard 18 July 23/5 Wages clerk to head..wages section.
1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 20 Mar. 1/3 We deny that any *wage contract with the miners has been broken. 1977P. Johnson Enemies of Society iii. 39 The medieval manor..yielded to a cash-nexus society based on wage-contracts between freely-negotiating individuals.
1910Encycl. Brit. V. 879/1 This argument, which combined statutory *wage control and statutory poor relief, seems to have been firmly embedded in the English legislative mind..till after 1600. 1978Economist 18 Feb. 75/1 The [Argentine] government..has relaxed wage controls on private industry. 1985Financial Times 4 Mar. 6/4 The most apparent difference is in their approach to inflation and wage control.
1958Spectator 4 July 33/3 *Wage-cost inflation. 1975J. De Bres tr. Mandel's Late Capitalism vi. 203 Economies in costs will thus always be accompanied in the long-run by a relative decrease in the share of wage costs in the value of the commodity.
1945Wages Councils Act (8 & 9 Geo. VI c. 17) 116 An Act to provide for the establishment of *wages councils. 1971Observer 7 Nov. 16/6 Many trade unionists argue that the very existence of wages councils discourages poorer workers from joining trade unions. 1984Listener 1 Nov. 11/3 The Wages Councils, providing legal minimum wages and conditions for 2·7 million of Britain's lowest-paid workers..are threatened.
1925Daily Herald 30 June 2/4 (heading) Folly of *wage-cuts. 1974J. Aiken Midnight is Place iii. 102 Protests about the wage-cut had been nipped in the bud.
1970Guardian 2 Mar. 1/2 The biggest disagreement is about the effect of *wage demands.
1950*Wage differential [see differential n. 3 b]. 1957Observer 6 Oct. 10/2 The pension scheme, by relating superannuation to wages, strengthens the value of wage differentials and hence the incentive to acquire greater skills. 1977China Now Apr.–May 7/1 They were cutting down wage differentials.
1919in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1977) IV. Compan. i. 498 The moment the revolt advanced over the line of a pure *wage dispute, and the strikers were guilty of a serious breach of the law, then was the moment to act. 1955W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. i. 322 Not written to be played by men in worn dinner jackets,..involved in wage disputes.
1963Times 22 Jan. 4/6 This is a comparatively rare phenomenon, ‘*wage drift’ in reverse, and reflects increased short time and lower earnings from bonuses, overtime and so on. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1976) II. 703 As for the 3½ per cent ceiling, he told me it was quite unrealistic since wage drift by itself probably comes to 3½ per cent.
1885Manch. Exam. 20 Feb. 5/1 Trade will always fluctuate, *wage-earners will always suffer as a consequence.
1865Sat. Rev. 12 Aug. 203 The *wages-earning and beef-eating qualities of the Briton. 1884Times (weekly ed.) 10 Oct. 7/2 To turn their young children into wage-earning machines. 1902Edin. Rev. Oct. 402 Education..may do much to..raise the power of wage-earning.
1641Brome Joviall Crew iv. i. (1652) I 3 b, That she should sleight me, and run away with a *wages-fellow, that is but a petty Cleark and a Serving⁓man.
1928Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry) ii. xvi. 181 The practical considerations which ought to govern the process of wage-fixing.
1942*Wage freeze [see freeze n.1 (ii)]. 1967Spectator 1 Sept. 238/2 The wage freeze has been imposed without a murmur of national strike action. 1980C. Moorehead Fortune's Hostages v. 104 The President [of Uruguay]..tried to introduce economic restraint by wage freezes.
1848Mill Pol. Econ. ii. xi. §1. I. 402 There is unfortunately no mode of expressing by one familiar term, the aggregate of what may be called the *wages-fund of a country. 1863Fawcett Pol. Econ. ii. viii. 241 The remark has frequently been made that the capital of the country provides its wage-fund. This wage-fund is distributed amongst the whole wage-receiving population, and, therefore, the average of each individual's wages cannot increase unless either the number of those who receive wages is diminished, or the wage-fund, which, in other words, may be described as the capital of the country, is increased.
1976Washington Post 19 Apr. a 23/4 By last spring, some unions were putting in for *wage hikes up to 60 per cent.
1976Morecambe Guardian 7 Dec. 21/7 One woman waving a placard saying ‘*Wage Inflation’ [etc.].
1871Kingsley At Last xvi, Those who cultivate some scrap of ground, or follow some petty occupation, which prevents their depending entirely on *wage-labour.
1957V. W. Turner Schism & Continuity in Afr. Society v. 135 A man can acquire wealth by working in the White economy as a *wage labourer.
1928Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry) iii. 139 A wise wage-policy should aim at the highest practicable *wage-levels. 1965J. Meuvret in Glass & Eversley Population in Hist. xxi. 517 In normal times wage-levels and price-levels were both very low.
1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxvi, They took up a claim... Then they got a *wages-man to help them, and all four used to work like niggers. 1890― Miner's Right iii. 23 One would think I was a wagesman, the way you three coves bosses it over me.
1928Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry) iii. xvi. 188 It is not even enough that the wage-system should be just in itself; it must be visibly and demonstrably just. And this conception ought to inspire the whole system of *wage-negotiation. 1974Guardian 23 Jan. 3/1 Today's wage negotiations were conducted with the Frame group.
1951R. Firth Elem. Social Organiz. iv. 140 One point of view is that the size of the *wage-packet remains the most important factor still in the incentive to work. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1976) II. 638 The trade unionists want to see us spending much less on social services so that there'll be more for wage packets.
1868Ruskin Time & Tide (1872) 7 This principle of regular *wage-paying.
1923H. W. B. Joseph Labour Theory of Value in Karl Marx vii. 154 In the absence of definite agreements or enactments, we can produce no rule of universal application, to which *wage-payments ought to conform.
1928*Wage-policy [see wage-level above]. 1965New Statesman 9 Apr. 576/3 The principles (but not the practice) of a wages policy.
1946Sun (Baltimore) 1 Mar. 1/3 The situation, therefore, presents possibilities of a critical test of the administration's new *wage price line. 1958Engineering 11 Apr. 460/1 There appeared to be no doubt whatever in Lord Cohen's mind that this painful process of breaking the wage-price spiral had to be adopted. 1977M. Edelman Political Lang. viii. 147 A wage-price freeze from which major industries quickly won exceptions.
1968Manch. Guardian Weekly 14 Mar. 13 It has become fashionable to say that the British..manage to keep a *wage-push inflation in times of crippling deflation. 1979Dædalus Spring 53 Other things being equal, the greater the wage push, the tougher and more ‘lesson-teaching’ a policy is necessary to control inflation.
1898Edin. Rev. Apr. 278 *Wage-rates are..the chief cause of trade disputes.
1963Punch 20 Mar. 398/2 There must..be a *wage-related contributory insurance system.
1958Listener 4 Dec. 930/2 Don't think it's a matter of *wage restraint only. 1977M. Edelman Political Lang. viii. 153 Employers perceive wage restraint by workers as in the public interest.
1930W. K. Hancock Australia ix. 187 It is apparent that *wage-rigidity is less important in its social consequences than in its economic and psychological consequences. 1983Economist 18 June 21/3 Some belief in wage-rigidity is deeply rooted in his work.
1960F. Lynde Quickening 310 His father was deep in the new *wage scale submitted by the miners' union. 1979Gloss. Terms Work Study (B.S.I.) 27 Wage scale determination, the construction of a scale of wages reflecting the relative values of jobs.
1903Daily Chron. 9 July 4/4 The cotton spinners..had to diminish their output and the *wage-sheet. 1906Westm. Gaz. 14 Nov. 10/1 Mr. Farrell quoted figures from his wages-sheet to prove that ability and competence..have to be paid for.
1886Mallock Old Order Changes II. 29 The hands, as you call them, the poor jaded underfed *wage-slaves.
1886D. Donohue Let. 21 Oct. in N.Y. Times 24 Oct. 1/5 It is therefore but natural that we should vote for a man who proposes to use his best endeavors to bring about legislation by which *wage slavery and land monopoly shall be abolished. 1903Dubl. Rev. Oct. 243 The attitude taken up by the Pope..in regard to wage-slavery.
1962Observer 25 Feb. 23/3 They were working themselves at the *wage-snatch business, with a bit of smash-and-grab on the side. 1964J. Creasey Look Three Ways at Murder xx. 183 There's a hold-up... Wages snatch! 1977L. Meynell Hooky gets Wooden Spoon xii. 149 She wasn't doing anything for the police in the wages snatch.
1948Ann. Reg. 1947 20 A *wage spiral was only prevented by distortion which would soon become intolerable.
1940Economist 28 Dec. 799/1 The attempt to carry out a *wage stop similar to the price stop had to be abandoned. 1954E. H. Carr Interregnum 73 This quasi-official wages-stop remained in force throughout 1923. 1963Guardian 25 Feb. 11/7 If a man is wage-stopped, he will not get anything at all from the increases. 1971Daily Tel. 16 June 3/3 The wage stop is the system by which men are prevented from drawing more in State benefits than they had earned while in work—even if this means they get less than the commission's official poverty level.
1963Times 18 Feb. 11/6 To suggest..that all the 15,000 *wage-stopped families were outsize would, on the board's own figures, be plainly absurd.
1955Ann. Reg. 1954 1 The commission..undertook to make a thorough examination..of the whole *wage structure.
1898Kansas City (Missouri) Star 18 Dec. 2/1 The ultimate outcome of the labor movement..will be the destruction of the *wage system. 1929D. H. Lawrence Pansies 75 Ultimately, we are all busy buying and selling one another. It began with Judas and goes on in the wage-system.
1552Huloet, *Wages takyng, stipendiatus.
1936J. M. Keynes Gen. Theory Employment iv. 41 The money-wage of a labour-unit we shall call the *wage-unit. 1976F. Zweig New Acquisitive Society ii. iv. 106 Economic planning which is based primarily on a ‘wage unit’ determined by the planning authorities as the pivot of economic planning.
1902J. P. Struthers Life & Lett. (1918) 279 They were the chief *wage-winners in the house.
1870Tennyson Coming of Arthur 417 Dark sayings..echo'd by old folk beside their fires, For comfort after their *wage-work is done.
1888Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 17 July 2/3 Free trade's bitterest foe is the American *wageworker.
1898G. B. Shaw Perfect Wagnerite 29 The starving *wage-working class.
Add:[4.] wage economy, a system of economic organization (or section of the economy) that is based on the payment of a regular, fixed wage in return for labour; contr. with share economy s.v. *share n.3 6.
1971Cahiers d'Études Africaines XI. 314 Out of 4 million people in Malawi only 130,000 are in the *wage economy. 1983N.Y. Times 24 Apr. vii. 14/4 The rise of the national marketplace and of a wage economy strained the old informalities.
▪ II. wage, v.|weɪdʒ|
Inflected waging, waged. Also 4 wagge, 5–7 wadge (pa. tense wajed), (5 Sc. vage), 7 waidge.
[ME., a. ONF. wagier, waigier (Central OF. guagier, mod.F. gager: see gage v.):—popular L. type *wadiāre, f. *wadium wage n.]
I. To gage, pledge.
†1. trans. To deposit or give as a pledge or security. Also with down. Obs.
c1320Sir Tristr. 1011 He waged him aring, Tristram þe batayl toke. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xix. 285 Þat shal delyuery ous som day out of þe deueles powere, And betere wed for ous wagen þan alle we beon worthi. 1458Forman's Monumt. Christ's Hosp., Abingdon 80 Few folke there were coude that wey wende, But they waged a wed or payed of her purse. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Ago, Ex sponso siue ex sponsu agere,..to sue a man in the action, that is by wagynge downe of a somme of money. a1585Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 1453 Implaidging and waidging Baith twa thair lyves for myne.
†b. To offer as a gage of battle. Obs.
c1430Syr Tryam. 1368 Therfore sche hath takyn a day, Certenly, os y yow say, And waged hur glove for to fyght.
†2. fig. To offer (one's oath, etc.) as security for the fulfilment of a promise, etc.
c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3264 His othe he waged redilie. 1587Golding De Mornay xxx. (1592) 476 Or, if he serued not God, how was it possible that the name of God should be waged by a mortall man, against the glory of God?
†3. To give pledges or pledge oneself for the fulfilment of (something promised). Obs.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 87 For he haþ waget me a-mendes as wisdam him tauhte. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 8026 He sent out his Messanger..Trewes to aske, and trewes to wage. c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 2172, I said, that i sold find a Knyght That sold me mayntene in my right, And feght with tham al thre, Thus the batayl wajed we.
†b. with obj. a clause. Obs.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 84 For Ichul wage for wrong he wol do so no more. c1400Ploughman's Tale (Skeat) 1208, I trow they do the devell homage In that they weten they do wrong; And thereto I dare well wage, They serven Sathan for all her song.
4. spec. in Law. Now only Hist.
a. to wage battle [= AF. gager bataille, Law Latin vadiare duellum]: To pledge oneself to judicial combat: = gage v. 1 c.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 292 He offered to wage his battayle with the sayde Duke in the court of the French king. 1609Skene Reg. Maj., Quon. Attach. xxxi. 82 b, It is statute, that the defender sall first wage the battell, and thereafter sweare. a1625Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 25 Brothers or cosins shall not wage battell in a writ of right. a1634Coke 3rd Inst. lxxii. (1648) 158 In a Writ of right, if the tenant wage battail by his Champion. 1768Blackstone Comm. III. xxii. 339 When the tenant in a writ of right pleads the general issue,..and offers to prove it by the body of his champion,..the tenant in the first place must produce his champion, who, by throwing down his glove as a gage or pledge, thus wages or stipulates battel with the champion of the demandant. 1819Act 59 Geo. III, c. 46 §2 From and after the passing of this Act, in any Writ of Right..the Tenant shall not be received to wage Battel, nor shall Issue be joined nor Trial be had by Battel in any Writ of Right.
b. to wage one's (or the) law (AF. gager la ley, Law Latin vadiare legem): (a) to defend an action by ‘wager of law’ (see wager n.2 5 a.). ¶ (b) In erroneous popular use; to go to law (cf. 10).
(a)1455Rolls of Parlt. V. 326/2 All ye lawes aforesaid so waged and doon. 1456Paston Lett. I. 407 Gunnore hath waged his lawe of that he haade his day to wage it of, &c. 1523Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 1 §1 In which sute..the Defendaunt or Defendauntes shall nat be admytted to wage ther Lawe. 1531tr. St. German's Doctor & Stud. i. xviii. 42 Yf the defendaunte wage his lawe in an accyon of dette broughte vpon a trewe dette. 1579Expos. Terms Law 138 b, Ley gager. Wager of lawe, is when an action is brought agaynst one without especialtye shewed or other matter of recorde,..then the defendaunt may wage his lawe, that is to say, sweare vppon a booke, and certaine persons with him, that he oweth nothing to the plaintife [etc.]. 1611Cotgr., Venir à la loy, to be receiued, or admitted, vnto the waging of his Law. 1716W. Hawkins Pleas Crown ii. x. (1726) 61 The Defendant shall not be suffered to wage his Law in any such Action. 1768Blackstone Comm. III. xxii. 345 It is only in actions of debt upon simple contract, or for an amercement in actions of detinue, and of account, where the debt may have been paid, the goods restored, or the account ballanced, without any evidence of either; it is only in these actions, I say, that the defendant is admitted to wage his law: so that wager of law lieth not, when [etc.]. 1824Barnewall & Cresswell Cases K.B. II. 538 marg., Where, in debt on simple contract, the defendant waged his law, the Court refused to assign the number of compurgators with whom he should come to perfect his law.
(b)1529in Mary A. E. Wood Lett. Roy. & Illustr. Ladies (1846) II. 51 If so be there be no way..to obtain it, but only by the common law..I am in that poverty I am not able to wage any law with him. 1538Starkey England (1878) 117 Oft-tymys the vniust cause preuaylyth, in so much as the one party ys not perauentur so abul as the other to wage hys law. 1548Cranmer Catech. 62 And in case that at the lenght we haue sentence on our side, yet..we shal, for the most parte, spende more mony in waginge of the law, than we shall gayne by the sentence. 1579Hake Newes out of Powles (1872) B ij, Or else to worke their neighbors woe, by waging sutes at Lawe. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 325, I wanted money to be able to draw out my thread to it's length, and to wage Law with them. 1625B. Jonson Staple of N. v. i, I am not able to wage Law with him, Yet must maintaine the thing, as my owne right.
†c. to wage deliverance: = gage v. 1 b. Obs.
1607J. Cowell Interpr. s.v. Gage, To wage deliuerance, that is, to giue securitie that a thing shall be deliuered. 1656Blount Glossogr. s.v. Wage.
5. To put to hazard, venture or risk the loss of.
a1400Morte Arth. 2967, I salle wage for that wye alle that I welde. c1630Webster App. & Virg. iii. i. (1654) 25 If you will needs wage eminence and state, chuse out a weaker opposite. 1825Scott Talism. ix, Therefore have you me, and many better Scottishmen, making war against the infidels under your banners... If their numbers are now few, it is because their lives have been freely waged and wasted.
†b. refl. To throw oneself on the mercy of another. Obs.
c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) i. xv. 11 Ther nys leon ne cruel leonesse soo fyers..that theyr malyce attempren..ne wyl..to tho that lowely wyl them seluen wage with meke herte.
†6. esp. To agree to forfeit in some contingency; to stake, wager, bet. Obs.
1483Caxton G. de la Tour xviii. b vj, Lete laye a wager, that whiche wyf of vs thre that obeyeth best her husbond..that he wynne the wager: wherupon they waged a jewele. 1598R. Wrag in Hakluyt's Voy. (1599) II. i. 309 And holding them [the wives and children of their poor tenants] in such slauery as though they had beene no better then dogges, would wage them against a grayhound or spaniell. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 69 The Indians..make no small reckoning of these beastes (..their..Oxen), for they..wil runne a race as fast as any horse:..waging both Gold and Siluer vpon their heads. 1633Ford Love's Sacrif. i. ii, I dare Wage a thousand Ducats not a man in France Out-rides Roseilli. 1637B. Jonson Sad Sheph. ii. i, They shall rin after yee, and wage the odds, Upo' their owne deceived sights, yee' are her! c1640J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) II. 386 And hee..being confident shee went with a son, offered to wage with her ten pound to thirty pound, that soe it was. 1674Ch. & Court of Rome 10 Our Author..wages his reputation in the case. 1704N. N. tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. II. 222 That famous Timotheus Graecus, who having waged his Beard about the Dispute of a Syllable with Francisco Filelfo, upon the loss of the Wager very willingly submitted to have it cut off. 1719D'Urfey Pills II. 60 I'd wage a hundred thousand Pounds. 1742Fielding J. Andrews iii. xii, If I walked alone,..I would wage a shilling that the pedestrian outstripped the equestrian travellers.
† II. 7. To engage or employ for wages; to hire: a. for military service. Obs.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 3172 [Brenne] waged souders. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xxi. 258 If þei wage men to werre, þei write hem in noumbre. a1400Morte Arth. 333 And I salle wagge to that were of wyrchipfulle knyghtes,..Twa thosande in tale. 1432–50tr. Higden, Harl. Contin. (Rolls) VIII. 478 Fresche men wagede for men that were sleyne. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 148 A man of armes that is wagit with a lord for all the ȝere. 1563Mirr. Mag., Ld. Rivers liv, For hys defende great store of men I waged, Doubtyng the stormes which at such tymes betyde. 1596Lodge Wits Misery 86 The Turke..hath alwaies in prest for the war 130 thousand Timariste [sic] (who are waged by lands which the Turke hath giuen them..) he hath beside them 14 thousand Ianisaries, and 36 thousand Spaies, continually waged by mony. 1599Hayward 1st Pt. Life Hen. IV, 68 Assone as the Duke was come into Brittaine he waged certaine souldiours, and presently departed to Calice. 1623Bingham Xenophon 1 As for the Grecians, he waged them as secretly as he could, to the intent to take his Brother altogether vnprouided. 1652–62Heylyn Cosmogr. iv. (1682) 63 He wageth mercenary Souldiers of other Nations.
fig.1607Shakes. Cor. v. vi. 40 Till at the last I seem'd his Follower, not Partner; and He wadg'd me with his Countenance, as if I had bin Mercenary.
†b. gen. Obs.
1465Paston Lett. Suppl. (1901) 88 If my servauntis faile I had lever wage some other man, for a jorny or a season, thanne my mater should be on sped. 1468Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. II. 327, I have wagyd for to helpe yow and Dawbeney to kepe the place at Castr, iiij wel assuryd and trew men. 1593G. Harvey Pierces Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 98 He..waged Zenophantus to enflame and enrage his courage with the furious notes of Battail. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commonw. (1603) 234 Mahumetan princes..to secure their estates doe never trust their home-bred subjects, but wage strangers and slaves, unto whose fidelity they commit their persons. 1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 497 Such things which a man is waged or hired to keepe.
†c. To bribe. Obs.
1461Rolls of Parlt. V. 478/1 Convened with the same Scotts, procuryng, desiring and wagyng theym to enter. 1549Latimer 3rd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 88 Thei will be waged by the rich, eyther to geue sentence agaynste the poore, or to put of the poore mannes causes. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 348 b, The cleargy of Maidenburge..had waged him with great rewards and promesses. 1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 44/1 Neither could the darke night serue them to that purpose, nor anie intreatie nor waging them with monie, which were appointed for watchmen. 1587Golding De Mornay xxv. 442 As though Cyrus had bene bent of set purpose to verifie the Prophesie, or as though hee had bene waged by the Prophet. 1603Florio Montaigne i. xxv. 73 The judgement of a man that is waged and bought. a1800Pegge Suppl. Grose, Wag'd, hired, bribed: They wag'd him to do it. North.
†d. intr. To make an agreement for wages. Obs.
1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 497 He waged with Iakob to keepe his sheep.
†8. trans. To put out to hire. Obs. rare—1.
1590Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 18 Thou..must wage Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage.
9. To pay wages to. Now rare or Obs.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. v. 192 And ich dar legge my lyf that Loue wol lene the suluer, To wage thyne, and help wynne that thow wilnest after. c1400Sowdone Bab. 590 Take a thausande pounde of Frankis fyne, To wage wyth the pepul newe. 14..Customs of Malton in Engl. Misc. (Surtees) 59 Also in pley of lande and als wele wagyd os be fore. 1460J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 300 Thei were receyved by the duke of Burgundi ful worchipfully, and waged sufficiently. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. lxi. [lxiv.] 79 b, The kynge of Aragon sware and sealed..to sende vnto hym as moche money as sholde wage fyue hundreth speres. 1530Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 288, I will that a prest be wadgyd to pray for the helth of my saull..and to have yerely for his wadges eight marces. 1533–4Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 21 §6 The charges of obteynyng the seid licences..and in conductyng of currours and wagyng solicitours..have be grevous and excessive. c1550R. Bieston Bayte Fortune A iiij b, Who wageth the seruaunt, who paieth the souldeour. 1552Latimer Serm. Lincs. v. (1562) 102 At oure tyme, phisike is a remedy prepared only for riche folkes, not for poore: for the poore man is not able to wage the phisicion. 1565J. Hall Crt. Vertue 138 The laboryng man would for his payn, Be wagde with double hyre, Or els would loyter, and not worke At any mans desyre. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 726 Knowing his treasurie at home to be so voyde and faynt, that it was not able long to wage his Soldiours. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. xxii. 112 b, Besides that which is giuen vnto them of almes, they are waged either publikely, or of som in particular. 1640Sir T. Stafford in Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1888) IV. 158 There proposition of requiringe 4000li monthlie to wadge there Army. 1823Scott Quentin D. v, It is an art this French King of ours has found out,..to wage his soldiers out of other men's purses. 1833I. D'Israeli in New Monthly Mag. XXXVII. 203 The master dresses and wages highly his pampered train.
†b. Ironically, to reward (for evil). Obs.
1412–20Lydg. Troy Bk. iii. 2419 With his swerd..þoruȝ þe brest, & some þoruȝ þe side He percid haþ, and waged hem for euere. Ibid. 3362 To whom Hector bad he shulde goon To þe furies depe doun in helle,..And þus whan he was wagid for his mede, Anon his broþer..Swiche sorwe made..Þat pite was for to sen and here.
†c. To pay wages for. Obs.
1638Heywood Wise Woman ii. i, When I receive thee gladly to mine house And wage thy stay, thou shalt have Graciana.
¶d. absol. (fig.) ? To bring reward.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 416 My lorde þe lombe..Corounde me quene in blysse to brede, In lenghe of dayez þat euer schal wage.
III. 10. To carry on (war, a contest).
Developed from sense 3: cf. 4 a.
1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 255 To vage bataill in lissis.., that is to say in barreris. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 95 b, How bytter, sharpe, and fearfull is the conflicte to wage batayle & fyght with pryde. 1609Daniel Civ. Wars ii. cxvii. 62 Then hadst not thou, deare Countrie, com'n to wage Warre with thy selfe. 1631Gouge God's Arrows v. §6. 415 [They] waged many battels valiantly and victoriously. 1667Milton P.L. i. 121 To wage by force or guile eternal Warr. 1697Prior A Satire 118 He should be kept from waging War with Words. 1738Wesley Ps. lvi. i, My Foes continual Battles wage. a1770Jortin Serm. (1771) II. 44 It does not follow that Christians may not wage war against their Enemies. 1791Cowper Iliad xvii. 576 Thou, therefore, the resplendent reins receive..while I, dismounting, wage the fight. 1799Coleridge Ode to Duchess Devonshire 33 And some, perchance, might wage an equal strife. 1826J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans xiii, I had thought the Delawares a pacific people,..and that they never waged war in person. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop iv, That lady's mother..resided with the couple and waged perpetual war with Daniel. 1845–6Trench Hulsean Lect. Ser. i. viii. 128 Those..conflicts, which the Church..must one day wage with those forms of untruth. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 633 As they had been levied for the purpose of waging war on an infidel nation, they bore on their flag..the Paschal lamb. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxxii, I wage not any feud with Death For changes wrought on form and face. 1861Buckle Civiliz. II. iii. 232 How idle, then, is that warfare which reformers are too apt to wage. 1874Green Short Hist. ii. §7. 95 In his old age he waged his bitterest war against his son. 1887Bowen Virg. æneid vi. 828 Ah! what battles the twain must wage, what legions array.
¶ transf. (nonce-use).
a1648Ess. on Death in Bacon's Remaines (1648) 12, I..could wish that like peace to all those with whom I wage love.
b. To contend for (a cause). rare.
1839–52Bailey Festus 65 In Thy name we shall O'ercome, for we will only wage the right.
†c. intr. in various nonce-uses: To struggle, contend against; to struggle through difficulties; to contend in rivalry. Obs.
1605Shakes. Lear ii. iv. 212 No, rather I abiure all roofes, and chuse To wage against the enmity oth'ayre. 1608― Per. iv. ii. 34 The commoditie wages not with the daunger. 1656in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 558 My troubles are many, yet..I indifferently wage through them. 1690Child Disc. Trade (1698) 187 If there were no others to wage with us, we might..make our own Markets; but as the case now stands, that all the World are striving to engross all the Trade they can [etc.].
11. trans. To wield (a weapon, etc.). rare.
1836Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 17 Mr. Kenrick was mounted on the top of the hay, waging a water-pipe in full play. 1865Sir J. K. James Tasso's Jerus. Deliv. x. lxix. I. 321 Pagans become, and for our kingdom wage 'Gainst impious Godfred, your avenging swords.
▪ III. wage
obs. form of wedge. |