Bandage

How to spell bandage

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bandage

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bandage mean?

1. nounA strip of material wound around a wound or injured part of the body to protect it or hold a dressing in place.
2. verbTo bind or cover a wound or injured part with a strip of material.

Bandage in a sentence

• noun

  The nurse wrapped a clean bandage around his sprained ankle.

• verb

  The paramedic worked quickly to bandage the deep gash on her arm.

• noun

  Every first aid kit should contain a roll of sterile bandage.

• verb

  He learned how to bandage a blistered heel before the long hike.

Where does bandage come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes from the French bande, meaning a strip or a band of material, to which the suffix -age was added to form bandage, literally 'something made of a strip'. The French bande itself traces back to a Germanic root meaning a tie or a fastening, the same family that gives English the everyday word 'band'. English adopted bandage in the late 1500s, and from the start it described a strip of cloth wound around a wound or injury. The connection to 'band' is the key to the spelling: think of a band of cloth plus -age, and the single d and the soft -age ending fall naturally into place. The verb sense, meaning to dress an injury with such a strip, grew directly out of the noun.

How the word is built

• band (strip, from French bande)
• -age (noun/verb suffix denoting a thing or action)