verge
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
[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). Often creating a sense of excitement for the male and perhaps the birth of the expression "on the verge" related to "close to". 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."
[edit] Noun
verge (plural verges)
- A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.
- An edge or border.
- (UK, New Zealand) The grassy area between the sidewalk and the street; a tree lawn.
- (obsolete) A male rod, phallus
- (figuratively) An extreme limit beyond which something specific will happen
- I was on the verge of tears.
[edit] Translations
[edit] See also
[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" (compare versus); strongly influenced by the homonymous noun verge in its verbal form meaning "to be adjacent to"
[edit] Verb
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.
[edit] Translations
[edit] References
- “verge” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001
[edit] Dutch
[edit] Verb
verge
[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) (file)
[edit] Noun
verge f. (plural verges)
[edit] Derived terms
- vergé (adjective)
- vergée
- verger (verb)
- vergeron m.
- vergeté (adjective)
- vergeter (verb)
- vergette
- vergeture
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Latin
[edit] Verb
verge
- second-person singular present active imperative of vergō
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English nouns
- British English
- New Zealand English
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- Dutch verb forms
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms derived from Latin
- French nouns
- French feminine nouns
- French countable nouns
- Latin verb forms
