a suffix typically forming mass or abstract nouns from various parts of speech, occurring originally in loanwords from French ( voyage; courage ) and productive in English with the meanings "aggregate" ( coinage; peerage; trackage ), "process" ( coverage; breakage ), "the outcome of" as either "the fact of" or "the physical effect or remains of" ( seepage; wreckage; spoilage ), "place of living or business" ( parsonage; brokerage ), "social standing or relationship" ( bondage; marriage; patronage ), and "quantity, measure, or charge" ( footage; shortage; tonnage; towage ).
[ ME -aticum, neut. of -aticus adj. suffix; an extension of L -ata -ATE 1 , whose range of senses it reflects closely ]