page

Pronunciation

• IPA: /peɪdʒ/^[1]

page¹ leaf of a book

Etymology

The leaf is borrowed from Middle French page,^[2][3] a reduced form of pagene (“page, text”),^[4][5] from Latin pāgina (“page, leaf of paper; strip of papyrus; vine trellis”),^[4][5][6] related to pangere (“to fasten, fix”),^[4][3][7] from Proto-Indo-European *pag- (“to fasten”).^[4][8] It replaced Middle English pagyn, pagine, borrowed earlier from French or Latin.^[2][4] Word Origins explains the sense from strips of papyrus glued together into a scroll;^[7] Etymonline also cites the theory of vines fastened to stakes in a trellis, hence columns of writing.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

One side of a leaf of a book: 1589, in Nashe's works,^[2][9][3] or the 1580s.^[4] The earlier form pagine is from about 1200.^[4]

Semantic evolution

An episode or phase, as in a page of history, is from 1619.^[9] The type set for one page is from 1727–41.^[9] The verb meant “to number the pages of” from 1628,^[9][10] and “to turn the pages” by 1943.^[4] A division of a computer's memory is from 1948.^[9] A page-turner, a gripping book, is from 1974.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – pagine.^[4]
• 1589 – page (Nashe).^[2][9]
• 1619 – an episode.^[9]
• 1628 – verb, to number pages.^[9]
• 1943 – verb, to turn pages.^[4]
• 1948 – computer memory.^[9]
• 1974 – page-turner.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. One side of a leaf of a book, letter or newspaper; the whole leaf.
2. The writing or printing on one side of a leaf.
3. A noteworthy event or episode.
4. A unit of computer memory; a web page.

Verb

1. To number the pages of; to paginate.
2. To turn the pages of: page through.

Word family

• pagination
• paginate
• front-page
• page-turner
• pageful

page² attendant

Etymology

The attendant is inherited from Middle English page, borrowed from Old French page (“a youth, servant”),^[4][2][5] possibly through Italian paggio or Medieval Latin pagius (“servant”),^[2][4] perhaps ultimately from Ancient Greek παιδίον (paidíon, “boy, lad”), a diminutive of παῖς (paîs, “child”).^[8][11][5] The OED, with the Century Dictionary, considers this unlikely and points instead to Littré's suggestion of Latin pāgus (“countryside”), as “a boy from the country” (see pagan).^[4] Hoad calls it of uncertain origin.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

A youth preparing to be a knight: probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder,^[2] and a boy or lad before 1300.^[9] It occurs as a surname in the early 13th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

A boy servant is from about 1300,^[2] and in Middle English the word also meant a man of low status, used contemptuously.^[9][5] A youth attending a person of rank is from the mid-15th century.^[4][9] From the late 18th century it was transferred to boys running errands in hotels and clubs, and in the United States to messengers in legislatures.^[4] The verb “to summon by name”, as if sending a page, is from 1904,^[4][9] later by loudspeaker or electronic pager.^[13] In East Anglia a shepherd's boy was a page.^[14][9]

Timeline

• before 1300 – a youth training for knighthood.^[2]
• c. 1300 – a boy servant.^[2]
• mid-15th century – an attendant to a person of rank.^[4]
• late 18th century – an errand boy in a hotel.^[4]
• 1904 – verb, to summon.^[4][9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (historical) A boy serving a knight as the first stage of training for knighthood.
2. A youth attending a person of rank or at a ceremony.
3. A person employed to run errands or carry messages, as in a hotel or legislature.

Verb

1. To summon by calling out a name, or by a pager.

Word family

• pageboy
• pager

Related words

• pageant
• pact
• peace
• pagan
• pedagogue

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)