the.com/gage

means A pledge or token—often literally a glove or cap—thrown down to back up a challenge, or more broadly, anything offered as security for a promise.

from From Old French 'gage' meaning pledge or wages, rooted in a Germanic word (related to 'wed' and 'wage') tied to the idea of a binding promise. The chivalric image of hurling down a glove to challenge someone comes from this same root: the glove itself was the gage, the collateral proving you meant business.