No, this isn’t a discussion of how old we are, although a new year might prompt that feeling. Instead, it’s a discussion of “age” as a suffix. Here is how I started thinking about these letters.

While walking through several neighborhoods from October through December, it occurred to me that people sure do have a lot of yard decorations for the end-of-year holidays. Where do they keep all of this stuff? What kind of storage is needed to store a giant skeleton (often decorated) for Halloween? What about all of those blow-up yard decorations? (I figured out the answer to that last question from the deflated versions all over people’s front yards during the day 😉).

As those of you who know me might guess – this question started me on a weird path about words that end with “age.” Is this a common suffix? Oh, yes, it is!

SO . . . I wondered . . . what does this suffix mean? I did some online research and found this information:

According to etymonline.com and membean.com, this suffix comes from both French and Latin, meaning “to do something” if attached to a verb, as when “use” becomes “usage,” or “belonging to, related to,” if attached to a noun or adjective, as when “acre” becomes “acreage.”

Without looking at the Internet, I thought of some words that end in “age” as a suffix, other than “storage.” I am sure that I have omitted several – please add!

• Average
• Beverage
• Cabbage
• Carnage
• Cottage
• Damage
• Dotage
• Forage
• [Pronounced with the emphasis on the ‘age’ syllable] – garage / montage / visage
• Garbage
• Hostage
• Leverage
• Manage
• Mileage
• Millage
• Postage
• Sewage
• Suffrage
• Tutelage
• Village

Happy 2024, no matter your age! 🤗😄

p.s. I still want to know how those giant skeletons are stored! Let me know if you know!!

Read More about “Age”