Middle English Dictionary Entry
wāǧe n.
Entry Info
| Forms | wāǧe n. Also wag, (N) vage. |
| Etymology | AF/ONF wage, AF vage, vars. of OF gage (from Gmc.); cp. ML vagium, wagium, vars. of vadium. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. gage n.
1.
(a) A pledge, guarantee, surety; winter ~, a foretaste of winter, the promise of winter’s approach; holden in ~, to hold (sth.) hostage;
(b) a promise or pledge to meet in battle.
Associated quotations
a
- ?a1400(a1338) Mannyng Chron.Pt.2 (Petyt 511)p.139 : He sesed fiue castels & held þam in his wage, Foure erles & sextene knyghtes þerfor in his ostage.
- c1400(?c1390) Gawain (Nero A.10)533 : Meȝel-mas mone Watz cumen wyth wynter wage.
- c1475(c1450) Idley Instr.(Cmb Ee.4.37)2.A.1697 : Oon thyng I seye and ley my lyffe to wage: If thow loue the first and take the seconde to wyff, In orrible avoutrie ye leede youre lyff.
b
- c1425(c1400) Ld.Troy (LdMisc 595)8476 : 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.
2.
(a) A salary or monetary allotment paid at regular intervals to a holder of a civil office, a laborer, an artisan, a member of the clergy, etc. for continuous or repeated service;—usu. pl. [occas. difficult to distinguish from (b)]; ?also, pl. maintenance, support [1st quot.];
(b) a salary paid to a provider of military service, soldiers’ pay; a payment made to a knight bound by indenture, feudal obligation, etc. to service to or defense of an overlord, a king, etc.;—usu. pl.; also in fig. context;
(c) at (under) wage(s, in wages, of ~, in the pay (of sb.), in (someone’s) service, under (someone’s) command; salaried, employed; oute of ~, discharged; taken ~ with, to fight on behalf of (sb.), enlist in (someone’s) service;
(d) expenditure for salaries, wages considered in the abstract, a payroll;—sometimes pl.;
(e) ?a payment for the use of property [1st quot.]; ?a bribe [2nd quot.].
Associated quotations
a
- (a1382) WBible(1) (Bod 959)3 Esd.4.55 : To þe leuytes he wrot to ȝyuyn wagis [L praebita] vn to þe dai þat þe hous shulde ben fulli endid.
- (c1385) Chaucer CT.Kn.(Manly-Rickert)A.1900 : Ther was no crafty man…That Theseus ne yaf mete and wages The theatre for to maken and deuyse.
- (?1387) Wimbledon Serm.(Corp-C 357)76/251 : Mynistris of þe chirche…noȝt holdynge hem apaied wiþ swyche wagis þat were sufficiaunt to hem…wiþholdiþ to hemselue wickidly and cursidly þe liflode of pore men.
- (c1395) Chaucer CT.Fri.(Manly-Rickert)D.1426 : My wages been ful streyte and ful smale; My lord is hard to me and daungerous, And myn office is ful laborous.
- c1400(c1378) PPl.B (LdMisc 581)11.283 : He þat toke ȝow ȝowre tytle shulde take ȝow ȝowre wages [vrr. wage, wags].
- (1429) RParl.4.338b : Ye seide Lord Talbot servid the Kynges Fader…withoute takyng of any wages.
- (1444) RParl.5.112b : And yat from the Fest of Ester unto Mighelmesse, ye wages of eny free Mason or maister Carpenter excede not by the day iiii d. with mete and drynk, and withoute mete and drynk v d. ob.
- a1450(1412) Hoccl.RP (Hrl 4866)501 : Pryde…no prys setthit be mesures lawe, Ne takith of hym cloth, mete, ne wage.
- c1450(?c1400) 3 KCol.(1) (Cmb Ee.4.32)14/14 : Kyngis & princeys…haue maistris of þat science and ȝiue hem grete wages to teche hem þat cunnyng of astronomye.
- (1473-4) Acc.St.Edm.Sarum15 : Item, in wages of a man helping the plumer, x d.
- a1475 Friar & B.(Brog 2.1)p.47 : He schall be with us lenger, Tyll that he be strenger, To wyn beter wage.
- (a1475) Fortescue Gov.E.(LdMisc 593)147 : The said viijte lordes also, wich be reason off þer baronyes and estates bith to þe kyng, consiliari nati, and þerfore awghton to counsell hym at all tymes when he woll, nede not to haue gret wages ffor thair attendance to is covnsell, wich shall last but ffor a yere.
- 1790(1471-1472) Ordin.Househ.Edw.IV(2) (Topham)48 : Mynstrelles, xiii…whereof sume use trumpettes, sume shalmuse and small pipes, and sume as strengemen, comyng to this courte at five festes of the yere, and then to take theyre wages of houshold after iiii d. ob. a day.
- a1500(c1477) Norton OAlch.(Add 10302)1357,1359 : Take no man therto But he be wagide…Not bi the monthe…Ne bi the weeke, but bi the daye; And that your wagis be…Bettir then thei elswere can fynde; And that thei nede not for wagis sewe, But that their payment be quyke & trewe.
b
- (c1385) Chaucer CT.Kn.(Manly-Rickert)A.1803 : Se how they blede; be they noght wel arrayed? Thus hath hir lord the god of loue ypayed Hir wages and hir fees for hir seruyse.
- ?a1400(a1338) Mannyng Chron.Pt.2 (Petyt 511)p.163 : A hundreth knyghtes mo…& fiue hundreth o fote…I salle pay Ilk day þer wages.
- (a1402) Trev.Dial.MC (Hrl 1900)23/1 : Ȝe haueþ y-fonge alle siche lordschipes & riches to help of youre lif to wages of holy chyualrie, to haue mete & drynke & cloþ.
- ?a1425(?a1350) Castleford Chron.(Göt Hist 740)19781 : So litel firste he had in hend, He failed tresor for to despende, And ek to gif til foud and vage To knightes þat war at his costage.
- c1425 Mirror LM&W (Hrl 45)114/10 : We beþ alle felawes & sowdioures in þe hoste of God…and alle we abydeþ one wages or oon hyre for oure fighte, þat is endeles blisse.
- (1430) Proc.Privy C.4.42 : Moche is yet owed to Margarete executrice to Thomas late Duc of Clarence for þe wages of þe seid Duc and of his retenue for þe service þat þei dide to Kyng H þe Vte.
- a1450(a1338) Mannyng Chron.Pt.1 (Lamb 131)7671 : Knyghtes þat wolde wende for wages Wyþ Octa wenten to þe ryuages.
- (a1460) Vegetius(2) (Pmb-C 243)399 : Double wage a wurthi man of armys Was wont to take, if he wer proved digne Aforn his prince.
- (a1470) Malory Wks.(Win-C)188/24 : I shall brynge the ferce men of armys, fully twenty thousand of tyred men; I shall yeff hem my wages for to go and warre on the Romaynes.
- a1475 Against Lollards (Vsp B.16)35 : Þe wages ben ful yuel wared With suich a capitayn to abide.
- (c1475) Exped.Edw.IV (Arms 2M.16)93 : Of which Wages…the said Richard shall be Paid, for the first quarter of the seid whole Yere, at Westminster, the last day of January next comyng, by the handes of the Tresorer of England.
- a1500(?c1450) Merlin (Cmb Ff.3.11)120 : Kynge Arthur…sente after sowderes ouer all and yaf hem wagis and horse and harneyse and robes, and so he be-come in grete love a-monge the pore knyghtes of the contree.
c
- (1420) Let.in Ellis Orig.Let.ser.1.17 : I have receyvid…lettres…chargyng me to assaye by all the menesse that I kan to exyte and stirre sych as been able gentilmen…to kome ovyr to ȝowe at ȝour Wage, armyd and arayde as langys to thaire astate, to do ȝowe servyce.
- (1426-7) Paston (EETS)1.11 : Þe seyd Walter… neuer was seruaunt to þe seyd Duc of Norffolk at fees ne at wages.
- c1440(?a1400) Morte Arth.(1) (Thrn)302 : I sall the forthire of defence, fosterde ynewe, fifty thowsande men…Of my wage for to wende, whare so the lykes.
- a1450(c1410) Lovel.Merlin (Corp-C 80)19026 : Aftyr hym cam Clawdas with þe caryage, with ten thousend vndir his wage.
- a1450 Mandev.(3) (BodeMus 116)129/10 : I Ion Maundeuyle and mynne felas were wyth hym, in his seruise dwellande and at hese wagis [vr. dwellid in wagis] xv monethis.
- (1450) RParl.5.178b : The said Duke of Suff’, beyng reteigned with you, in your wages of werre in your seid Reame of Fraunce and Duchie of Normandie, and there be-trusted by You…to knowe the privite of youre Counseill there…hath often and many dyvers tymes falsely and traiterously discovered and opened to…youre Ennemyes, the privite, ordenaunce, and provision of your seid Counseill.
- c1450 Capgr.St.Kath.(Arun 396)4.1305 : We are come…at the emperouris wage ffor a mayden.
- (a1460) Vegetius(2) (Pmb-C 243)1177 : Sumtyme amonge an ooste ariseth roore. Of berth, of age, of contre, of corage Dyuers thei are, and hoom thei longe sore, And to bataile thei wil, or out of wage.
- c1475 Body Pol.(Cmb Kk.1.5)62/23 : He muste holde men of werre vndir wages for the defence of the londe.
- a1500(a1450) Gener.(2) (Trin-C O.5.2)2441 : With the Sowdon he will take no wage.
- a1500(?a1475) Guy(4) (Cmb Ff.2.38)3071 : Ye haue a knyght at yowre wage; For yow he ys an euell page.
d
- a1425 *Medulla (Stnh A.1.10)62b/a : Stipendium: hure, wages, or mede.
- (1439) RParl.5.7b : Alle Fees, Wages, Annuytees, Reparations, and other chargis necessarie goyng out of the same be ordeined, aplied, and emploied to the dispensis of his saide Houshold.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)513 : Wage, or hyre: Stipendium, salarium.
- c1475(a1400) Amadace (Tay 9)p.44 : That thou be fre of wage, And I schalle pay for thi costage, x thowsand gif thou ladde.
- a1500 Retinue Edw.III Calais (Lamb 306)85 : The sume total of þe saide exspences, as wil for wage, prestis, as for þe exspencis of þe Kyngis house as for other giftes and rewardes…iij c & xxxvij m li. c iiij li. ix s. iiij d.
e
- 1447 Bokenham Sts.(Arun 327)472 : If she be bonde and vndyr seruage…Hys lond wyl I yeue ryht good wage And to my paramour hyr vndyrfonge.
- a1450 Castle Persev.(Folg V.a.354)2870 : Mankynd, hathe Dethe wyth þe spoke? Ageyns hym helpyth no wage.
3.
A reward; recompense, just deserts;—sometimes pl.; also, ?the fruits of labor, abundance [quot. ?1440].
Associated quotations
- c1330(?c1300) Bevis (Auch)55/1156 : For þow bringest fro hire mesage, I schel þe ȝeue to þe wage A mantel whit so melk.
- c1390 Hose wolde be-þenke (Vrn)71 : Let a lechour heere a-spye A ȝong mon with a wommon rage…Ȝit wol þat lechour þinke outrage…Such deemyng askeþ sliper wage.
- c1400(?c1390) Gawain (Nero A.10)396 : Þou schal siker me…Þat þou schal seche me þi-self…& foch þe such wages As þou deles me to-day.
- a1450(?c1421) Lydg.ST (Arun 119)4040 : Thus the devel for his old outrages, lich his decert, paied [vr. quyt] hym his wages.
- a1425(c1395) WBible(2) (Roy 1.C.8)Rom.6.22 : The wagis [WB(1): hyris; L stipendia] of synne is deth.
- (?1406) Hoccl.MR (Hnt HM 111)119 : Seeknesse…riotoures whippe, Habundantly þt paieth me my wage.
- (?1440) Palladius (DukeH d.2)5.74 : Now arage Is sowe and so forth al the somer longe, Til heruest come in with his gretter wage.
- c1450(c1385) Chaucer Mars (Benson-Robinson)244 : Thogh the lyne breke, he hath penaunce, For with the hok he wounded is so sore That he his wages [vr. waages] hath for evermore.
- c1450(a1425) MOTest.(SeldSup 52)13438 : Both man and chyld and wyfe full wyghtly had þer wage: þei left not on on lyfe þat langed to þat lynage.
- c1450 Capgr.St.Kath.(Arun 396)prol.63 : He is now ded, þou hast youe hym his wage.
- c1475(c1447) Epitaph Duke Glo.(Hrl 2251)25 : Thy mercyes bene grettest, and his wag grettest also; Thow foryaf oure trespas and so dide he his certayne.
- a1500(a1450) Gener.(2) (Trin-C O.5.2)6511 : My doughter lucidas…shall be youres, lo, this shalbe your wage.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- c1440 Degrev.(Thrn)1014 : The Erle..Faste gan hym praye To duelle at his costage, At bouche of court and tonage [read: to uage], Bothe sqwyere and page, To the tweluft daye.
Note: New phrase:to ~--belongs to sense 2.(c): add it to first set of glosses: at (under) wage(s, in wages, of ~, to ~, in the pay (of sb), in(someone's) service.--per MLL
Note: New spelling: uage.
Note: Can't read 'tonage' (tonnage), but at bouche and to uage reads very well and is paleographically easy.--per MM