Charges

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈt͡ʃɑɹd͡ʒɪz/

Definitions

1. Demands a sum of money as payment for goods or services ; formally accuses someone of a crime or offense ; places a load or burden on something ; takes responsibility or duty for someone or something
2. Requests payment for an item or service rendered ; makes an official allegation against a person ; fills or equips with a substance or item ; assumes control or obligation for an act or person
3. Asks for money owed for a product or activity ; brings a legal accusation against someone ; puts a weight or supply into something ; undertakes a role or task requiring care or attention

Etymology: The verb "charge" began as a very physical idea: loading a vehicle. Its ancestor is Latin "carrus," meaning a wagon or cart, which is also the source of "car." Late Latin "carricare" meant "to load a cart," and Old French turned it into "chargier," meaning to load or burden. English borrowed the idea through Middle English "chargen," and the word has been a doublet of "cargo," which came from the same root but entered English by a different route and kept the sense of freight. From that concrete loading of goods, the meanings spread outward. A load can be a weight laid on someone, which gives the sense of a duty or care entrusted to a person, and a burden of debt can be laid on an account, which gives the sense of demanding payment. The notion of a weight placed on someone also led to accusation: to charge a person is to lay a wrong upon them, as if loading them with guilt.

Synonyms: fees, costs, expenses, rates, tariffs

Antonyms: refunds, reimbursements, credits, returns, gifts