breakage

Meanings

1. The act of breaking.
2. Something that has been broken.
3. A service which is unused by a customer, such as an unredeemed gift card, which therefore represents a pure profit to the seller.
4. The left-over money in a pari-mutuel betting pool resulting from rounding off the payoffs, added to the pool for the next race or event or kept as profit.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-der. Proto-Germanic *brekaną Proto-West Germanic *brekan Old English brecan Middle English breken English break Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Old French -agebor. Middle English -age English -age English breakage From break + -age.