wage
n. countablen. the fixed amount of money you earn for the work you do, usually paid every week or month.
n. a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis, made by an employer to an employee in exchange for manual or unskilled work.
The company increased the minimum wage for all staff this year.
Many workers struggle to cover their basic living expenses on a low hourly wage.
Economists argue that a significant increase in the real wage can stimulate consumer spending, though it may also lead to inflationary pressures in the service sector.
From Middle English wage, from Anglo-Norman wage, from Old Northern French wage, a northern variant of Old French gauge, guage (whence modern French gage), Medieval Latin wadium, from Frankish waddī (cognate with Old English wedd), from Proto-Germanic wadją (“pledge”), from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“to pledge, redeem a pledge”). Akin to Old Norse veðja (“to pledge”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌹 (wadi), Dutch wedde. Compare also the doublet gage. More at wed.
From Middle English wagen (“to pledge”), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wagier, a northern variant of Old French guagier (whence modern French gager), itself either from guage or from a derivative of Frankish waddī, possibly through a Vulgar Latin intermediate wadiō from *wadium.
Often used in the plural ('wages') to refer to the total amount earned, or as a modifier ('wage increase', 'wage gap').
He earns a high salary for his construction work.He earns a high wage for his construction work.Learners often use 'salary' for all jobs, but 'wage' specifically refers to pay based on hours worked or manual labor, whereas 'salary' is for professional, annual contracts.