charge
UK[tʃɑːdʒ]US[tʃɑːrdʒ]
v
to ask an amount of money for something, especially a service or activity
v
to rush forward in order to attack someone or something
v
to officially accuse someone of committing a crime
v
to store electrical energy in a battery
n
the amount of money that you have to pay for something, especially for a service
n
a statement accusing someone of committing a crime
n
a rushing attack forward, especially by soldiers or players in a game
n
the amount of electrical energy stored in a battery or carried by a substance
n
responsibility for or control over someone or something
Etymology
the word 'charge' entered english in the 13th century from old french 'chargier', meaning "to load, burden, or entrust." this old french term itself evolved from late latin 'carricare', "to load a wagon or cart," which was derived from latin 'carrus', meaning "wagon" (a word of gaulish/celtic origin). the fascinating semantic journey from the concrete act of loading a vehicle to its diverse modern meanings follows a clear logic: loading a cart with goods relates to imposing a burden or cost (financial charge), to entrusting someone with a responsibility (being in charge), and to the buildup of energy (electrical charge). the military sense of 'attack' developed from the idea of loading or preparing a weapon and then rushing forward with force.
Analysis
the word 'charge' is a simplex word derived from a latin root via old french. its spelling and form do not allow for a clean segmentation into meaningful, modern english substrings (e.g., 'char' and 'ge' are not independent morphemes). the core semantic unit is the entire root 'charg-'.
Examples
the museum does not charge for admission.
the cavalry prepared to charge the enemy lines.
the battery needs to charge for several hours.