verge
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[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
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Singular |
Plural |
verge (plural verges)
- A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.
- An edge or border.
- (British, 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] 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
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to 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 form
verge
- conjunctive present form of vergen 'to require'
[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
[edit] Noun
verge f. (plural verges)
[edit] Derived terms
- vergé (adjective)
- vergée
- verger (verb)
- vergeron m.
- vergeté (adjective)
- vergeter (verb)
- vergette
- vergeture
[edit] Anagrams
- Anagrams of eegrv
- grève