verge

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Noun 1.2.1.1 Translations 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Verb 1.3.1.1 Translations 1.4 References 2 Dutch 2.1 Verb form 3 French 3.1 Etymology 3.2 Pronunciation 3.3 Noun 3.3.1 Derived terms 3.4 Anagrams

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -ɜː(r)dʒ

[edit] Etymology 1

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-French 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."

[edit] Noun

verge (plural verges)

1. A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.
2. An edge or border.
3. (British, New Zealand) The grassy area between the sidewalk and the street; a tree lawn.
4. (obsolete) A male rod, phallus
5. (figuratively) An extreme limit beyond which something specific will happen

   I was on the verge of tears.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Etymology 2

From Latin vergere "to bend, turn, tend toward, incline", from the Proto-Indo-European werg- "to turn", itself from a root wer- "to turn, bend" (cfr. versus); strongly influenced by the homonymous noun verge in its verbal form meaning "to be adjacent to"

[edit] Verb

to verge (third-person singular simple present verges, present participle verging, simple past and past participle verged)

1. (intransitive) To be or come very close; to border; to approach.

   Eating blowfish verges on insanity.

[edit] Translations

[edit] References

• “verge” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001

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[edit] Dutch

[edit] Verb form

verge

1. conjunctive present form of vergen 'to require'

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[edit] French

[edit] Etymology

From Middle French verge (“‘rod or wand of office’”), hence "scope, territory dominated", from Latin virga (“‘shoot, rod stick’”), of unknown origin.

[edit] Pronunciation

•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

• IPA: /vɛʁʒ/, SAMPA: /vERZ/

[edit] Noun

verge f. (plural verges)

1. A rod
2. A male member, penis

[edit] Derived terms

• vergé (adjective)
• vergée
• verger (verb)
• vergeron m.
• vergeté (adjective)
• vergeter (verb)
• vergette
• vergeture

[edit] Anagrams

• Anagrams of eegrv
• grève