English word origin

Etymology of cage

From Middle English cage, from Old French cage, from Latin cavea. Doublet of cadge and cavea and related to jail.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗

noun

An enclosure made of spaced bars, normally to hold animals while providing some ventilation. · The passenger compartment of a lift. · The goal. · Short for roll cage, a protective structure around the passenger compartment of a vehicle.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English cage, from Old French cage, from Latin cavea. Doublet of cadge and cavea and related to jail.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentioncageenm
Derivation mentioncagefro
Derivation mentioncaveala
Doublet mentioncadgeen
Doublet mentioncaveaen

This page abbreviates 11 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "3": "cage"
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      "expansion": "Middle English cage"
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      "args": {
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        "3": "cage"
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      "expansion": "Old French cage"
    },
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "3": "cavea"
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      "lang": "Zulu",
      "lang_code": "zu",
      "word": "ikheji",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
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Unnumbered source etymology · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗

verb

To confine in a cage; to put into and keep in a cage. · To imprison. · To restrict someone's movement or creativity. · To immobilize an artificial horizon.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English cage, from Old French cage, from Latin cavea. Doublet of cadge and cavea and related to jail.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentioncageenm
Derivation mentioncagefro
Derivation mentioncaveala
Doublet mentioncadgeen
Doublet mentioncaveaen

This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "cavea#English"
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      "jail#English"
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        "To imprison.",
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        "To immobilize an artificial horizon."
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for cage →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-Y2FnZQ