verge
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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.
Noun
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.
- 1848, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy:
- Even though we go to the extreme verge of possibility to invent a supposition favourable to it, the theory […] implies an absurdity.
- 1852, Matthew Arnold, Stanzas from Carnac:
- But on the horizon's verge descried,
Hangs, touched with light, one snowy sail.
- 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.
Derived terms
Translations
rod or staff of office
historical: stick or wand with which persons were admitted tenants
edge or border
|
grassy area between the sidewalk and the street
|
phallus — see phallus
zoology: external male organ of certain mollusks, worms, etc.
extreme limit
old measure of land
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
Etymology 2
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.
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.
- To bend or incline; to tend downward; to slope.
Derived terms
Translations
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “verge”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “verge”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- 1845, Oxford Glossary of Architecture
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