alnage

English

WOTD – 11 October 2015

Alternative forms

• ulnage (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English aulnage, from Old French alnage, aulnage (modern French aunage), from alne (“ell”), of Germanic origin: compare Old High German elina, Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰 (aleina, “cubit”). See ell.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔːlnɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

alnage (plural alnages)

1. (historical) Measurement (of cloth) by the ell, specifically, official inspection and measurement of woollen cloth, and attestation of its value by the affixing of a lead seal, as was once required by British law.
   • 1896, Edwin Arlington Robinson, The Clerks:

     Poets and kings are but the clerks of Time,
     Tiering the same dull webs of discontent,
     Clipping the same sad alnage of the years.

2. (historical) A duty paid for such measurement.

Derived terms

• alnager

References

• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 248.
• “alnage”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Angela, Galena, anlage, galena, lagena