Engaged

How to spell engaged

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce engaged

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does engaged mean?

1. adjectiveHaving formally agreed to marry someone.
2. adjectiveOccupied, busy, or currently in use and therefore unavailable.
3. adjectiveActively involved in or committed to something.

Engaged in a sentence

• The couple got engaged during their holiday in Italy.

• The phone line was engaged every time he tried to call the office.

• The students were fully engaged in the workshop discussion.

• She has been engaged to her partner for almost a year.

• The toilet door showed a sign reading engaged on the train.

• Local residents stayed engaged in the planning process.

Where does engaged come from?

Language of origin: French

This word descends from the Old French verb engager, which meant 'to pledge something' or 'to bind oneself by a promise'. That verb was built from en-, meaning 'to put into', and gage, a 'pledge' or item left as security, a word that French had itself absorbed from a Germanic root related to the English 'wage' and 'wed'. English took engage on board in the 1500s with the literal sense of pledging or pawning, and the form 'engaged' grew naturally as its past participle and adjective. From the idea of binding oneself by a promise came the romantic sense of being promised in marriage, and from the idea of being bound up in something came the senses of being occupied, busy, or actively involved. The shared root with 'wed' is a neat reminder that engaged has always carried the flavour of a binding promise.

How the word is built

• en- (to put into)
• gage (a pledge or pawn)
• -ed (past participle / adjective suffix)