| 1. | a customary way of doing something; a custom or practice: the usages of the last 50 years. |
| 2. | the customary manner in which a language or a form of a language is spoken or written: English usage; a grammar based on usage rather than on arbitrary notions of correctness. |
| 3. | a particular instance of this: a usage borrowed from French. |
| 4. | any manner of doing or handling something; treatment: rough usage. |
| 5. | habitual or customary use; long-continued practice: immemorial usage. |
| 6. | an act of using or employing; use. |
us·age (yōō'sĭj, -zĭj) n.
[Middle English, from Old French, from us, from Latin ūsus, from past participle of ūtī, to use.] |