verge - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Borrowed from Middle French verge (“rod or wand of office”), hence "scope, territory dominated", from Latin virga (“shoot, rod stick”), of unknown origin. Earliest attested sense in English is now-obsolete meaning "male member, penis" (c.1400). Modern sense is from the notion of 'within the verge' (1509, also as Anglo-Norman dedeinz la verge), i.e. "subject to the Lord High Steward's authority" (as symbolized by the rod of office), originally a 12-mile radius round the royal court, which sense shifted to "the outermost edge of an expanse or area." Doublet of virga.
verge (plural verges)
- A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.
- (UK, historical) The stick or wand with which persons were formerly admitted tenants, by holding it in the hand and swearing fealty to the lord. Such tenants were called tenants by the verge.
- An edge or border.
1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
- (UK, Western Australia, New Zealand) The grassy area between the footpath and the street; a tree lawn; a grassed strip running alongside either side of an outback road.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:verge
2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 129:
The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock.
- (figuratively) An extreme limit beyond which something specific will happen.
I was on the verge of tears.
1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 113:
The tremendous tragedy in which he had been involved – it was evident he was a fugitive from Weybridge - had driven him to the very verge of his reason.
- (obsolete) The phallus.
- An old measure of land: a virgate or yardland.
- A circumference; a circle; a ring.
c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
The inclusive verge
Of golden metal that must round my brow.
- (architecture) The shaft of a column, or a small ornamental shaft.[1]
- (architecture) The eaves or edge of the roof that projects over the gable of a roof.
1885, Edward S. Morse, Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings:
The smaller ribs of tiles that run down to the eaves, along the ridges in a hip-roof, or border the verge in a gable-roof , often terminate in some ornamental tile in high-relief .
- (horology) The spindle of a watch balance, especially one with pallets, as in the old vertical escapement.
historical: stick or wand with which persons were admitted tenants
edge or border
- Bulgarian: край (bg) m (kraj), предел (bg) m (predel)
- Chinese:
- Czech: pokraj (cs) m, okraj (cs) m
- Finnish: reuna (fi), parras (fi), raja (fi), ääri (fi), äyräs (fi)
- Galician: beira (gl) f
- Georgian: კიდე (ḳide), ზღვარი (zɣvari), საზღვარი (sazɣvari), მიჯნა (miǯna), ნაპირი (naṗiri)
- German: Rand (de) m
- Indonesian: ambang (id)
- Irish: broinne m, ciumhais f
- Portuguese: beira (pt) f, beirada (pt) f
- Russian: грань (ru) f (granʹ), край (ru) m (kraj), грани́ца (ru) f (graníca) (border), рубе́ж (ru) m (rubéž) (border)
- Scottish Gaelic: iomall m, oir f
- Spanish: arcén (es) m
- Turkish: kenar (tr)
grassy area between the sidewalk and the street
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
- Danish: please add this translation if you can
- French: accotement (fr) m
- German: Seitenstreifen (de) m
- Italian: please add this translation if you can
- Japanese: please add this translation if you can
- Polish: gazon (pl) m
- Portuguese: orla (pt) f
- Russian: обо́чина (ru) f (obóčina)
- Spanish: please add this translation if you can
zoology: external male organ of certain mollusks, worms, etc.
extreme limit
circumference: circle of a ring
architecture: shaft of a column, or a small ornamental shaft
architecture: edge of the tiling projecting over the gable of a roof
horology: spindle of a watch balance
Borrowed from Latin vergō (“to bend, turn, tend toward, incline”), from Proto-Indo-European *werg- (“to turn”), from a root *wer- (“to turn, bend”) (compare versus); strongly influenced by the above noun.
verge (third-person singular simple present verges, present participle verging, simple past and past participle verged)
- (intransitive) To be or come very close; to border; to approach.
Eating blowfish verges on insanity.
- To bend or incline; to tend downward; to slope.
to come very close
- Bulgarian: клоня (bg) (klonja), приближавам се (približavam se)
- Chinese:
- Dutch: grenzen aan
- Finnish: lähennellä (fi), olla jonkin rajoilla
- Georgian: ესაზღვრება (esazɣvreba)
- German: grenzen an
- Indonesian: ambang (id)
- Portuguese: beirar (pt)
- Russian: грани́чить с (graníčitʹ s)
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “verge”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “verge”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- ^ 1845, Oxford Glossary of Architecture
Inherited from Old Catalan verge~vergen, from Latin virginem.
verge m or f (masculine and feminine plural verges or vèrgens)
verge m or f by sense (plural verges or vèrgens)
- “verge” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “verge”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “verge” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “verge” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
verge
Inherited from Middle French verge (“rod or wand of office”), hence "scope, territory dominated", from Old French verge, virge, from Latin virga (“shoot, rod stick”), of uncertain origin, but probably from a Proto-Indo-European *wisgeh₂ (“flexible rod or stick”). Doublet of vergue.
verge f (plural verges)
- → Spanish: verja
- “verge”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
From Vulgar Latin *virdia (see for cognates), from syncopation of Latin viridia, neuter plural of viridis (“green”).
verge f (plural vergis)
verge
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vergè
vérge
From Old French verge, virge, from Latin virga.
verge f (plural verges)
- rod; stick; staff
- Exodus, the Bible
- Moyse ietta en la terre la verge qu'il tenoit dans sa main […] elle fust soudain changé en serpent
- Moses throw on the ground the staff that he held in is hand […] suddenly, it changes into a serpent
- Exodus, the Bible
From Old French verge, vierge, virge, from virgene, from Latin virginem, accusative of virgō.
verge f (plural verges)
- female virgin (female person who has never had sexual intercourse)
- French: vierge
From Old Norse verja. Compare Danish værge, Faroese verja, Icelandic verja, Swedish värja.
verge (present tense verger, past tense verga or verget, past participle verga or verget)
- (transitive) to protect
- vergemål (“guardianship”)
From the verb.
verge m (definite singular vergen, indefinite plural verger, definite plural vergene)
- (literary, rare) a protector, defender
- (law) a guardian, conservator; a person appointed to manage the affairs of others
- Synonym: formynder
verge n (definite singular verget, indefinite plural verg, definite plural verga or vergene)
From a shortening of earlier forms virgine, virgene, from Latin virginem, accusative singular of virgō, possibly a borrowing.
verge oblique singular, f (oblique plural verges, nominative singular verge, nominative plural verges)
- virgin (one who has never had sex)
verge m (oblique and nominative feminine singular verge)
- Often capitalized as la Verge when referring to the Virgin Mary
verge oblique singular, f (oblique plural verges, nominative singular verge, nominative plural verges)