Etymograph

English

breakage

Breakage comes from English break.

  1. English1500–presentbreak1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1944breakage1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English breakage
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1944, and April, The Working of Marshalling Yards and Goods Sheds: “A loader performs the important work of storing goods…”.

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentbreakWiktionary, English breakage
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1944breakageWiktionary, English breakage. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1944, and April, The Working of Marshalling Yards and Goods Sheds: “A loader performs the important work of storing goods…”

A compound of break + -age

Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’

…

Proto-Germanic *brekaną ‘to break’

Proto-West Germanic *brekan ‘to break’

Old English brecan ‘to break’

Middle English breken ‘to break up or split’

English break

Linked words

through English break

unbreakable, bruck, 2 more

Today it means

noun The act of breaking.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “breakage”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / English break / breakage

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