Engage Definition

engage

English

Etymology

From Old (and modern) French engager (from the same base as English wage) from en- + Old French gage "pledge", of Germanic origin, from Frankish *waddi, wadja (cognate with Old English wedd), from Proto-Germanic *wadjō, *wadi- (“pledge”) from Proto-Indo-European *wadh- (“to pledge, redeem a pledge”). Akin to Old Norse veþja "to pledge", Gothic wadi. More at wed.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪnˈɡeɪʤ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪdʒ

Verb

engage (third-person singular simple present engages, present participle engaging, simple past and past participle engaged)

1. (transitive) To engross or hold the attention of (someone); to keep busy or occupied.
2. (transitive) To draw into conversation.
3. (transitive) To attract, to please; (archaic) to fascinate or win over (someone).
4. (transitive) To enter into conflict with (an enemy).
5. (intransitive) To enter into battle.
6. (transitive) To arrange to employ or use (a worker, a space, etc).
7. To mesh or interlock (of machinery, especially a clutch).

   Whenever I engage the clutch, the car stalls out.

8. (intransitive) To enter into (an activity), to participate (construed with in).
9. (intransitive) To guarantee or promise (to do something).
10. (transitive) To bind through legal or moral obligation (to do something, especially to marry) (usually in passive).

    They were engaged last month! They're planning to have the wedding next year.

11. (obsolete, transitive) To pledge, pawn (one's property); to put (something) at risk or on the line; to mortgage (houses, land).
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vii:

      Thou that doest liue in later times, must wage / Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage.

Antonyms

• (to cause to mesh or interlock): disengage

French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɑ̃ɡaʒ/

Verb

engage

1. first-person singular present indicative of engager
2. third-person singular present indicative of engager
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of engager
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of engager
5. second-person singular imperative of engager

Anagrams

• gagnée

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