lowage

== English == === Etymology === Possibly from the French adjective louage (“hiring”) (Oxford English Dictionary), or a corruption of levage (Calvert, 1978). === Noun === lowage (countable and uncountable, plural lowages) (archaic) A charge on shipping. === References === In A history of Kingston upon Hull: from the earliest times to the present day (Hugh Calvert, 1978): "Lowage (corruption of 'levage') refers to the payments, originally gratuities, made to the master and ship's company for unloading cargo".