alnage
/ˈɔːlnɪd͡ʒ/
alnage noun: 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.
Noun
alnage (plural alnages)
- 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.
- Poets and kings are but the clerks of Time,
Tiering the same dull webs of discontent,
Clipping the same sad alnage of the years.1896, Edwin Arlington Robinson, The Clerks
- Poets and kings are but the clerks of Time,
- A duty paid for such measurement.
Forms of alnage
| plural | alnages |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | ulnage |
Origin of alnage
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.
Words formed from alnage
Questions about alnage
- What does alnage mean?
- Alnage means 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.
- What part of speech is alnage?
- Alnage is a noun.
- How do you pronounce alnage?
- Alnage is pronounced /ˈɔːlnɪd͡ʒ/.
- What is the plural of alnage?
- The plural of alnage is alnages.
Words near alnage in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: alnage (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-alnage.wav.
Cite this entry: “alnage.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alnage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.