First appeared in the 16th century as a general synonym of abuse, but fell into disuse after just a couple of centuries. The word re-emerged with a new grammar-specific sense after Eric Partridge published a book on grammar titled Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English (a pun on "use and abuse") in 1942.
abusage (countable and uncountable, plural abusages)
(obsolete) Abuse. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the mid 17th century.]
Improper or incorrect use of language. [First attested in the mid 20th century.]
Source: Wiktionary
A*bus"age, n.
Definition: Abuse. [Obs.] Whately (1634).
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
19 June 2025
(noun) the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage; “his roots in Texas go back a long way”; “he went back to Sweden to search for his roots”; “his music has African roots”
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