# usage

Pronunciation: say "YOO-sij" /ˈjuːsɪd͡ʒ/

## Noun

1. The act of using something; the employment of a thing for some purpose.
   - Simple: The act of using something, such as a tool, a service, or a supply.
   - _The contract limits usage of the software to a single device._
   - _Energy usage in the building dropped sharply after the insulation was upgraded._
2. The prevailing style of a language; the way words are actually used among a population of speakers and writers.
   - Simple: The way most people in a place or group use words.
   - _Modern usage accepts 'they' as a pronoun for a single person._
   - _Regional usage in the South gives some common words meanings outsiders find surprising._
3. The choice of language style made by a particular speaker or writer.
   - Simple: The way one speaker or writer chooses to use words.
   - _The novelist's usage favors short, blunt sentences over ornate description._
   - _His usage, dense with legal jargon, left half the jury confused._
4. A custom or established practice, one that has become standard through long observance.
   - Simple: A way of doing things that a group has followed for a long time.
   - _The court recognized the villagers' right to cross the field, established by ancient usage._
   - _Tipping at restaurants is fixed by usage rather than by any statute._
5. Custom or tradition; the accumulated practice that shapes how things have always been done.
   - Simple: Tradition, or the old ways that a group has always followed.
   - _The procession follows a route fixed by centuries of usage._
   - _Usage, more than any written rule, determines how the ceremony unfolds._

## Noun

6. Action toward someone; the treatment a person receives, especially when it is harsh or unjust. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The way a person is treated, especially when the treatment is harsh or unkind.
   - _The apprentice ran away after months of ill usage by his master._
   - _Sailors who survived the wreck described their rough usage aboard the ship._

## Origin

From Middle English "usage", which came from Anglo-Norman and Old French "usage".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/usage (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).