Pwnage

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The experience of overwhelmingly outperforming another in a competitive situation
2. The condition of decisively defeating or surpassing an opponent in a contest or challenge
3. A state where one player or team achieves total control or victory over others in gameplay or rivalry

Etymology: "Pwnage" is built from "pwn" plus the suffix "-age," and its story begins with a typing error. "Pwn" emerged in gaming culture as a misspelling of "own," which is a fitting mistake, since the "p" sits next to the "o" on a keyboard. Gamers used it to mean defeating an opponent so thoroughly that the victor effectively took ownership of them. The suffix "-age" carries a long history of its own. It descends through Old French from Latin "-aticum," a suffix that formed nouns from verbs and expressed a collection, a process, or a result. English has used it for centuries in words such as "marriage," "usage," and "baggage." Attaching it to "pwn" turned a verb meaning "to defeat" into a noun for the state of having been decisively defeated, or for a display of such victories.