Word part · Latin suffix
Suffix -age words: meaning and 16 examples
In short
The Latin suffix -age (from Latin) means "the act, result, amount or place of". Words with it include usage, storage, shortage, package, postage and baggage. Latin by way of French.
- Part
- -age
- Meaning
- the act, result, amount or place of
- Origin
- Latin
- Words listed
- 16
Latin by way of French. It can name an amount (mileage), a result (breakage) or a place or thing (storage, package).
Words with the Latin suffix -age
The list runs from shorter, common words to longer ones. The bands are a rough guide built from syllable count and how common each word is in our word list, not a grade-level standard. Read each word, then its word sum.
Colors:prefixroot or basesuffix
Start here: short, common words (about grades 3 and 4)
| Word | Word sum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| usage | use (root or base)+age (suffix)→usagedrop the e | the way something is used |
| storage | store (root or base)+age (suffix)→storagedrop the e | a place for storing things |
| shortage | short (root or base)+age (suffix)→shortage | not having enough of something |
| package | pack (root or base)+age (suffix)→package | a box or bundle packed to send |
| postage | post (root or base)+age (suffix)→postage | the cost of sending mail |
| baggage | bag (root or base)+age (suffix)→baggagedouble the last letter | the bags you take on a trip |
| luggage | lug (root or base)+age (suffix)→luggagedouble the last letter | the bags and cases you lug on a trip |
| linkage | link (root or base)+age (suffix)→linkage | the way things are linked |
| mileage | mile (root or base)+age (suffix)→mileage | the number of miles traveled |
| passage | pass (root or base)+age (suffix)→passage | a way to pass through, or a short part of a text |
| voltage | volt (root or base)+age (suffix)→voltage | the amount of electric force, measured in volts |
Next: longer words (about grades 5 and 6)
| Word | Word sum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| coverage | cover (root or base)+age (suffix)→coverage | how much something covers |
| percentage | percent (root or base)+age (suffix)→percentage | a part of a whole counted out of one hundred |
| breakage | break (root or base)+age (suffix)→breakage | things that got broken |
| drainage | drain (root or base)+age (suffix)→drainage | the way water drains away |
| blockage | block (root or base)+age (suffix)→blockage | something that blocks a path or pipe |
How do you teach the suffix -age?
Begin with bag and baggage, and lug and luggage. Both double the last consonant because -age starts with a vowel, which gives the student a clean doubling example. Then move to amount words: mileage is the number of miles, postage is the cost of sending mail. Store and storage show the drop-e rule. Ask the student, for each word, whether it names an amount, a result or a place.
A quick routine
Write short, pass, store, use and break. Say, "Age can name an amount, a result or a place. Short plus age is shortage: an amount that is too small." The student builds each word and names its job. Stop at store and use and ask why the e goes. Then show mileage, which keeps its e, and call it a rule breaker worth remembering.
What do students mix up with -age?
Age on its own is a word, and cage, page, stage, rage and wage just end in a-g-e. Manage and message look like they have the suffix but do not split into a base plus -age in English. Village and cabbage also end this way without a base word in front. If removing -age leaves no word, set it aside.
Some of these words change spelling where the parts join. The spelling rules pages cover dropping e, doubling and changing y to i. For the sounds inside these words, see the phonics word lists. Routines that fit: meanings of prefixes and suffixes, circle the parts, read the base and flexible routine for big words.
Questions people ask
What does the suffix -age mean?
-age means "the act, result, amount or place of". It is a Latin suffix. Latin by way of French. It can name an amount (mileage), a result (breakage) or a place or thing (storage, package).
What are some words with the suffix -age?
Start with usage, storage, shortage and package. Then move to coverage and percentage. This page lists 16 words in all, most with a word sum that shows the parts.
Why does mileage keep the e?
Most words drop a final e before a suffix that starts with a vowel, but mileage is a common exception. Milage shows up in some dictionaries, yet mileage is the spelling students will see. Teach it as a word that breaks the rule.
Related word parts
- -mentthe act or result of
- -urethe act of, or the result of
- -erya place for; a practice; or things of one kind
- -nessthe state of being
- -iana person who does or knows about something
- -ateto make or act on; or having
Terms on this page: morpheme, root, prefix, suffix, base word, word sum, morphology.
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