Etymology From Middle English wajour, wageour, wager, from Old Northern French wageure, from wagier (“to pledge”) (compare Old French guagier, whence modern French gager and contemporary Walloon wadjî), ultimately from Frankish *waddjōn (“to pledge”), from Frankish *wadi ~ *waddī (“pledge”). See also wage.
1
A bet; a stake; a pledge.
1842-43, Edgar Allan Poe, "The Mystery of Marie Roget" “This thicket was a singular, an exceedingly singular one. It was unusually dense. Within its naturally walled enclosure were three extraordinary stones, forming a seat with a back and footstool.… , whose boys were in the habit of closely examining the shrubberies about them in search of the bark of the sassafras. Would it be a rash wager – a wager of one thousand to one – that a day never passed over the heads of these boys without finding at least one of them ensconced in the umbrageous hall, and enthroned upon its natural throne? Those who would hesitate at such a wager, have either never been boys themselves, or have forgotten the boyish nature."
They have hired high-tech security companies to monitor wagers at a granular level and implemented sophisticated algorithmic systems to spot unusual gambling activity, ensuring that no athlete would be foolish enough to wager on a game. […] And prop bets have proved particularly ripe for manipulation. A prop bet is a wager on a specific occurrence during a game, rather than on the final result.2025 October 24, Keith O’Brien, “Sports Can’t Survive Prop Bets”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 24 Oct 2025:
2
The subject of a bet.
3
Law A contract by which two parties or more agree that a certain sum of money, or other thing, shall be paid or delivered to one of them, on the happening or not happening of an uncertain event.
Besides these Plates, the Wagers may be as the Persons please among themselves, but the Horses must be evidenced by good Testimonies to have been bred in Ireland.1673, Sir William Temple, Advancement of Trade in Ireland:
If any atheist can stake his soul for a wager against such an inexhaustible disproportion, let him never hereafter accuse others of credulity.1692, Richard Bentley, [A Confutation of Atheism] (please specify the sermon), London: [Thomas Parkhurst; Henry Mortlock], published 1692–1693:
Etymology From Middle English wajour, wageour, wager, from Old Northern French wageure, from wagier (“to pledge”) (compare Old French guagier, whence modern French gager and contemporary Walloon wadjî), ultimately from Frankish *waddjōn (“to pledge”), from Frankish *wadi ~ *waddī (“pledge”). See also wage.
1
To bet something; to put it up as collateral.
I'd wager my boots on it.
They have hired high-tech security companies to monitor wagers at a granular level and implemented sophisticated algorithmic systems to spot unusual gambling activity, ensuring that no athlete would be foolish enough to wager on a game.2025 October 24, Keith O’Brien, “Sports Can’t Survive Prop Bets”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 24 Oct 2025:
They were wagers of warfare against the wilderness and the Indians, and founders of families and towns.1912, Pocumtack Valley Memorial Association, History and Proceedings of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, page 65:
Hatshepsut was no wager of wars, no bloodstained conqueror.1957, Elsa Maxwell, How to Do It; Or, The Lively Art of Entertaining, page 7: