Gauged

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Determined the size, amount, or degree of something through measurement or estimation
2. Estimated or assessed the extent, level, or capacity of an object or situation
3. Measured or evaluated a quantity or condition using tools or judgment

Etymology: The past tense "gauged" comes from the verb "gauge," which meant originally a measuring rod, not an act of measuring. That rod shares its root with "gallows." Both trace back to a Proto-Germanic word for a pole or stake, and the same stem gave Old English "gealga," meaning cross-beam or gallows. The two words are doublets, split apart as they passed into English by different routes. The sense of "gauge" as a measuring device came first. Over time the noun shifted to the instrument's readings and then to the act of taking a measurement, so "to gauge" came to mean determining size, amount, or degree. The physical stick, in other words, gave rise to the verb. The path into English ran through Anglo-Norman and Old Northern French, where "gauger" meant to measure, and the Middle English form "gaugen" carried that sense across. The word kept the shape of its Frankish ancestor, a pole, and its meaning moved from that pole to the judgment it helped make.

Synonyms: measured, assessed

Antonyms: ignored, overlooked