suage

Pronounced: swaz, verb

Notes: I just see the word “usage” scrambled a bit, but that’s not helpful

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Yesterday’s word

The word farrier is “a person who shoes horses”

First usage

Our word came into English around 1400 (late 1300s to the early 1400s)

Background / Comments

When I think of shoeing horses, I think of a blacksmith – however, a farrier is a specific type of blacksmith and a bit more: not only does a farrier make the horseshoes and put them on the horse, he also cleans, trims, and shapes a horse’s hooves. Our word is slightly more common in the UK than in America. When our word first appeared, it not only referred to someone who shoed horses, but also provided general veterinary care. Our word first appeared as ferrour, which came from the Anglo-French noun ferrour (a blacksmith who shoes horses), which came from the verb ferrer (to shoe horses), which ultimately came from the Latin word ferrum (iron).