wage

 
Pronunciation: /weɪdʒ/

noun

(also wages)
  • a fixed regular payment earned for work or services, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis: we were struggling to get better wages an income of less than half the average wageCompare with salary
  • (wages) Economics the part of total production that is the return to labour as earned income as distinct from the remuneration received by capital as unearned income.
  • the result or effect of doing something considered wrong or unwise: disasters are the wages of sin

verb

[with object]
  • carry on (a war or campaign): it is necessary to destroy their capacity to wage war

Origin:

Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French and Old Northern French, of Germanic origin; related to gage1 and wed