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usage - 5 dictionary results
us⋅age
[yoo-sij, -zij] 
sɪdʒ
–noun
| 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. |
Synonyms:
1. tradition, habit, convention.
1. tradition, habit, convention.
Usage note:
The nouns usage and use are related in origin and meaning and to some extent overlap in their use. Usage usually refers to habitual or customary practices or procedures: Some usages of the Anglican Church are similar to those of the Roman Catholic Church. It is also commonly used in reference to language practices: English usage is divided in the pronunciation of aunt. Use refers to the act of using or employing (something): She put her extra money to good use. Perhaps in the belief that it is the more impressive term, usage is sometimes used where use would be more natural: Has your usage of a personal computer made the work any easier?
The nouns usage and use are related in origin and meaning and to some extent overlap in their use. Usage usually refers to habitual or customary practices or procedures: Some usages of the Anglican Church are similar to those of the Roman Catholic Church. It is also commonly used in reference to language practices: English usage is divided in the pronunciation of aunt. Use refers to the act of using or employing (something): She put her extra money to good use. Perhaps in the belief that it is the more impressive term, usage is sometimes used where use would be more natural: Has your usage of a personal computer made the work any easier?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To usage
| us·age (yōō'sĭj, -zĭj) n.
[Middle English, from Old French, from us, from Latin ūsus, from past participle of ūtī, to use.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Usage
Us"age\, n. [F. usage, LL. usaticum. See Use.]1. The act of using; mode of using or treating; treatment; conduct with respect to a person or a thing; as, good usage; ill usage; hard usage. My brother Is prisoner to the bishop here, at whose hands He hath good usage and great liberty. --Shak. 2. Manners; conduct; behavior. [Obs.] A gentle nymph was found, Hight Astery, excelling all the crew In courteous usage. --Spenser. 3. Long-continued practice; customary mode of procedure; custom; habitual use; method. --Chaucer. It has now been, during many years, the grave and decorous usage of Parliaments to hear, in respectful silence, all expressions, acceptable or unacceptable, which are uttered from the throne. --Macaulay. 4. Customary use or employment, as of a word or phrase in a particular sense or signification. 5. Experience. [Obs.] In eld [old age] is both wisdom and usage. --Chaucer. Syn: Custom; use; habit. Usage: Usage, Custom. These words, as here compared, agree in expressing the idea of habitual practice; but a custom is not necessarily a usage. A custom may belong to many, or to a single individual. A usage properly belongs to the great body of a people. Hence, we speak of usage, not of custom, as the law of language. Again, a custom is merely that which has been often repeated, so as to have become, in a good degree, established. A usage must be both often repeated and of long standing. Hence, we speak of a "hew custom," but not of a "new usage." Thus, also, the "customs of society" is not so strong an expression as the "usages of society." "Custom, a greater power than nature, seldom fails to make them worship." --Locke. "Of things once received and confirmed by use, long usage is a law sufficient." --Hooker. In law, the words usage and custom are often used interchangeably, but the word custom also has a technical and restricted sense. See Custom, n., 3.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : usage
Spanish:
convención,
German:
der Brauch, die Förmlichkeit,
Japanese:
慣習
usage
1297, "established practice, custom," from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. usage "custom, habit, experience," from us, from L. usus "use, custom" (see use).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: us·age
Pronunciation: 'yü-sij, -zij
Function: noun
: an habitual or uniform practice esp. in an area or trade —compare CUSTOM
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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