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anchorage

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Etymology and origin of the English word anchorage

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈæŋkəɹɪd͡ʒ/[1]
  • US: /ˈæŋkɚɪd͡ʒ/, /ˈeɪŋkɚɪd͡ʒ/[1]

anchorage1 place for anchoring

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing, Derivation
First attested
1405 a document printed by Flasdieck
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman ancorage
Ultimate origin
Latin ancora
Etymology tree of anchorage1
inherited borrowed derived
English anchor
English anchorage

Etymology

The anchoring place is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman ancorage, also ankerage, a toll for anchoring a vessel,[2][3] and partly formed from English anchor + -age.[2][4][5][6] The Anglo-Norman word, recorded in 1331–65 for a fee paid on anchoring a ship in a harbour,[3] is formed from ancrer (“to anchor”) and the suffix -age.[2] The OED compares Medieval Latin ancoragium (12th century), Catalan ancoratge, Italian ancoraggio and Dutch ankerage.[2] Anchor is from Old English ancor, from Latin ancora, which comes from or is related to Ancient Greek ἄγκυρα (ánkura, “anchor, hook”).[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A toll or charge paid for anchoring a vessel in a harbour: 1405, in a document printed by Flasdieck.[2][7] The Middle English Dictionary quotes an earlier ancorage from a Lancashire inquest of 1348, which the OED leaves undecided between Anglo-Norman and English.[7][2] Etymonline dates the toll sense to the mid 14th century.[5]

Semantic evolution

From the 16th century the word named a place off the coast suitable for anchoring (1536, in Copland's Rutter of the Sea) and the act of anchoring or the state of lying at anchor (1599, in Hakluyt).[2] Etymonline dates these senses later, to the 1610s and 1706.[5] Shakespeare used it in Titus Andronicus (1594) for a ship's set of anchors, a rare sense that died out.[2][6] The figurative sense, a firm basis or source of security, followed in 1596, in Drayton;[2][4] Johnson (1755) defined the word as "the hold of the anchor", quoting Wotton's "all our anchorage were loose".[8] From 1740 it was used of any means of holding something firmly in place, in dentistry for the hold of a filling (1859–1917), and since 1947 for the fittings that attach a seat belt to a vehicle.[2]

Timeline

  • 1331–65 – Anglo-Norman ancorage, a fee for anchoring.[3]
  • 1405 – a toll for anchoring.[2][7]
  • 1536 – a place suitable for anchoring.[2]
  • 1594 – a ship's set of anchors (obsolete by 1867).[2]
  • 1596 – figurative, a source of security or support.[2]
  • 1599 – the act of anchoring; lying at anchor.[2]
  • 1740 – a means of holding something firmly in place.[2]
  • 1947 – a seat-belt fitting.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A place where ships anchor or may anchor: The yacht found a sheltered anchorage in the bay.[9][6][2]
  2. The act of anchoring, or the state of lying at anchor.[9][6][2]
  3. A fee charged for anchoring.[9][2][4]
  4. Something that holds another thing firmly in place, such as the fitting that secures a seat belt.[9][2]
  5. A source of security or strength.[9][2][4]
  6. (obsolete, 1594–1867) The set of anchors of a ship.[2][6]

anchorage2 anchorite's cell

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1593 Raine's Description of the Ancient Monuments of the Church of Durham
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek ἀναχωρητής
Etymology tree of anchorage2
inherited borrowed derived
English anchor
English anchorage

Etymology

The anchorite's cell is formed from English anchor (“anchorite”) + -age,[2][4][6] probably on the model of hermitage, and perhaps influenced by anchorage1.[2][4] Anchor in this sense, recorded from Old English, is from Late Latin anachōrēta (“hermit, recluse”), shortened within Old English or taken through an unrecorded Early Irish form,[2] and the Latin word is from Ancient Greek ἀναχωρητής (anakhōrētḗs, “hermit, recluse”).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The cell or retreat of an anchorite: 1593, in a description of the church of Durham.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word kept this single sense;[2] the Shorter Oxford calls it archaic or historical.[4] The OED compares the older anchor-settle.[2]

Timeline

  • 1593 – an anchorite's cell.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic) The dwelling of an anchorite; a hermit's cell.[6][4][2]

Usage notes

The city of Anchorage in Alaska, the state's largest, was founded in 1914.[5][9][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

  • knot · also from Old English
  • slack · also from Old English
  • rot · also from Old English
  • wrath · also from Old English
  • idle · also from Old English
  • creed · also from Old English
  • chalk · also from Old English
  • grim · also from Old English
Cite this entry

“Anchorage.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/anchorage. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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