gauge

Pronunciation: /ˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a measuring instrument for measuring and indicating a quantity such as the thickness of wire or the amount of rain etc.
  2. noun accepted or approved instance or example of a quantity or quality against which others are judged or measured or compared
  3. noun the distance between the rails of a railway or between the wheels of a train

Etymology

From Middle English gauge, gaugen, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French gauger (compare Modern French jauger from Old French jaugier), from gauge (“gauging rod”), from Frankish *galga (“measuring rod, pole”), from Proto-Germanic *galgô (“pole, stake, cross”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“perch, long switch”). Cognate with Old High German galgo, Old Frisian galga, Old English ġealga (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse galgi (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse gelgja (“pole, perch”). Doublet of gallows.

In classic literature

Synonyms

gage

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
measuring instrument
Narrower (hyponyms)
water gauge, depth gauge, strain gauge, gasoline gauge, anemometer, wire gauge

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