What does chaunge mean?
"Chaunge" is an obsolete English spelling of the word now written "change." It carries all the same meanings: to make or become different, to exchange one thing for another, or, as a noun, an alteration or substitution. The spelling reflects the word's journey into English from Old French "changier" (from Late Latin "cambiare," ultimately of Celtic origin) during the Middle English period, when orthography had not yet been standardized. Readers encounter "chaunge" constantly in Chaucer, in early printed books, and in Renaissance verse — Shakespeare and his contemporaries still used it occasionally. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the modern spelling "change" had prevailed. Today the form survives mainly as a tool for historical flavor: poets and novelists reaching for an antique register may deploy it, and students of Middle English must recognize it on sight. Though no longer current, it remains a vivid reminder that English spelling was once fluid, regional, and far less settled than it is today.
(archaic) To make or become different; to alter, or to exchange one thing for another.
"He that will chaunge his purpose must first chaunge his mind."
Found almost exclusively in Middle English and Early Modern English texts.
(archaic) An act of changing; an alteration or substitution.
"There came a chaunge over the face of the land."
Rarer than the verbal use in surviving texts.
As an archaic noun, pluralized like modern "changes"; encountered only in historical texts.
"The chronicle records many chaunges of fortune."
Every "chaunge" you meet in Chaucer or Shakespeare isn't a different word at all — it's "change" wearing its medieval spelling, before French influence settled it into its modern form.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chaunge
"Chaunge" entered English from Old French "changier," which derived from Late Latin "cambiare" (to exchange), a verb likely borrowed from Celtic sources and related to Latin "cambire." It appeared in Middle English alongside the spellings "chaungen" and "change(n)," with the -au- form reflecting Anglo-Norman conventions. As spelling standardized under printing and French-influenced orthographic reform, "change" became fixed while "chaunge" fell out of use. Cognates include Modern French "changer" and Italian "cambiare."
How chaunge is actually used
"Chaunge" appears only in historical texts, most famously in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and other Middle English literature. Writers today use it solely for deliberate archaic effect. In reading such texts aloud, it is pronounced exactly like modern "change."
Easily confused with chaunge
"Chaunge" is simply the obsolete medieval spelling of the same word; "change" is the modern standard form with identical meaning, so confusion arises from spelling rather than sense.