What does charge mean?
Charge is one of English's most versatile words, functioning as both a noun and a verb across commerce, law, science, and warfare. At its simplest, a charge is a fee: the amount a shop, hotel, or utility demands for its goods or services, as when a credit card statement lists each individual charge. In legal settings, a charge is a formal accusation that someone has committed a crime, and facing charges carries serious connotations. In physics, charge refers to the fundamental property of matter that produces electric force, whether positive or negative, and in everyday life we speak of charging a battery or phone. The word also preserves older martial meanings: a cavalry charge is a rapid advance toward an enemy, and figuratively one can charge headlong into a task. Relatedly, to be in charge of something is to be responsible for it, reflecting the sense of a burden or duty entrusted to a person. Derived from Latin through Old French, charge shares roots with cargo and carry, tying all these senses back to the idea of a load borne or imposed.
A price demanded for goods or services; a formal accusation of wrongdoing; a quantity of electricity; or the responsibility for the care of someone or something.
"There is no admission charge for children under five."
In plural, 'charges' most often refers to legal accusations.
To demand payment for something; to formally accuse someone of a crime; to supply electrical energy to a device; or to rush forward in attack.
"They charged us twice for the same meal."
'Charge' as a verb takes a person and an amount: 'They charged me £20.'
The plural is standard and most frequently encountered in legal contexts ('criminal charges') or itemised billing ('bank charges').
"The defendant pleaded not guilty to all three charges."
The same word that describes an electric current filling your phone also once described knights thundering into battle — 'charge' has been doing double duty since medieval times.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of charge
Charge entered Middle English from Old French 'chargier', meaning to load or burden, which itself derives from Late Latin 'carricare', 'to load onto a cart'. This makes it a direct cognate of 'carry' (from 'carus/carriage') and kin to 'cargo', all rooted in the Latin noun 'carrus', a wheeled vehicle. The sense of loading gave rise naturally to financial meaning (a burden on one's purse), to responsibility (a burden on one's shoulders), to accusation (a burden laid upon someone legally), and eventually, in the eighteenth century, to electricity. The military sense of rushing forward developed in the sixteenth century.
Related word forms
How charge is actually used
Charge is highly polysemous and register-neutral: it appears in everyday commercial language ('no extra charge'), legal contexts ('criminal charges'), science ('positive charge'), and military history. In British English the phrase 'in charge' commonly denotes being in authority. The verb and noun share most senses, so context usually disambiguates.
Easily confused with charge
Change refers to money returned after a transaction or the act of making something different, whereas charge is a demand for payment or an accusation.