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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ledge.

A narrow surface projecting horizontally from a wall, cliff, or other surface.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/lɛd͡ʒ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/led͡ʒ/Australia

  1. A narrow surface projecting horizontally from a wall, cliff, or other surface.

  2. A shelf on which articles may be laid.

  3. A shelf, ridge, or reef, of rocks.

  4. A layer or stratum.

  5. A lode; a limited mass of rock bearing valuable mineral.

  6. A (door or window) lintel.

  7. A cornice.

  8. A piece of timber to support the deck, placed athwartship between beams.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English legge, from Old English leċġ (“bar, crossbeam”), from Proto-West Germanic *laggju (“layer, strip, ledge, rung, bar”), from Proto-Germanic *lagjō (“layer, stratum”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, recline”). Cognate with West Frisian lêch (“a layer of sheaves on a threshing floor”), Dutch leg (“layer”), German Low German Legg (“wrinkle, fold, flat layer, stratum”), Middle High German legge, lecke (“position, layer, stratum, tier; pleat, hem”). Related to Middle English leggen (“to lay, apply”), from Old English leċġan (“to lay”); and Old English *ġeleċġ (“positioning, arrangement, layout”) as in Old English limġeleċġ (“the disposition of the limbs, form, shape”). More at lay.

verb/lɛd͡ʒ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/led͡ʒ/Australia

  1. To cause to have, or to develop, a ledge (during mining, canal construction, building, etc).

    uncommon
Where this word comes from

From Middle English legge, from Old English leċġ (“bar, crossbeam”), from Proto-West Germanic *laggju (“layer, strip, ledge, rung, bar”), from Proto-Germanic *lagjō (“layer, stratum”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, recline”). Cognate with West Frisian lêch (“a layer of sheaves on a threshing floor”), Dutch leg (“layer”), German Low German Legg (“wrinkle, fold, flat layer, stratum”), Middle High German legge, lecke (“position, layer, stratum, tier; pleat, hem”). Related to Middle English leggen (“to lay, apply”), from Old English leċġan (“to lay”); and Old English *ġeleċġ (“positioning, arrangement, layout”) as in Old English limġeleċġ (“the disposition of the limbs, form, shape”). More at lay.

noun/lɛd͡ʒ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/led͡ʒ/Australia

  1. A provincial or territorial legislature building.

    Canada · slang

  2. A provincial or territorial legislative assembly.

    Canada · slang
Where this word comes from

Shortening of legislature.

noun/lɛd͡ʒ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/led͡ʒ/Australia

  1. Alternative form of lege (“a legend; a person held in high regard”).

    alt-of · alternative · slang
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.