Gage

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ɡeɪd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. Something given as a security or pledge to ensure fulfillment of an obligation ; a challenge issued to test someone's ability or willingness to do something ; a device used to measure dimensions or quantities accurately
2. An item deposited as a guarantee for a promise ; an invitation to prove oneself through a challenge ; an instrument designed for precise measurement
3. A token held to ensure compliance or payment ; a call to undertake a test of courage or skill ; a tool utilized for exact assessment of size or amount

Etymology: A gage was originally a pledge, something handed over to guarantee a debt or a promise. It reached English in Middle English from Old French, where "gage" and the verb "gager" carried the same sense. Behind them stands a Frankish "waddi", also meaning pledge, which goes back to a Proto-Germanic root that also gave English "wed". The challenge sense grows from the same idea of binding oneself with a token, as a thrown-down glove was a pledge to fight. The word is a doublet of "wage", which came into English through the Old Northern French variant "wage", and it appears as well in "mortgage". The green plum called the greengage was later shortened back to "gage", an example of a back-formation. The measuring instrument belongs to a separate spelling, "gauge".

Synonyms: pledge, guarantee, deposit, security