English Explanatory Dictionary

verge

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.
  2. 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.
  3. An edge or border.
  4. The grassy area between the footpath and the street; a tree lawn; a grassed strip running alongside either side of an outback road.
  5. An extreme limit beyond which something specific will happen.
  6. The phallus.
  7. The external male organ of certain mollusks, worms, etc.
  8. An old measure of land: a virgate or yardland.
  9. A circumference; a circle; a ring.
  10. The shaft of a column, or a small ornamental shaft.
  11. The eaves or edge of the roof that projects over the gable of a roof.
  12. The spindle of a watch balance, especially one with pallets, as in the old vertical escapement.
verb
  1. To be or come very close; to border; to approach.
  2. To bend or incline; to tend downward; to slope.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/vɜːd͡ʒ/ en-au-verge.ogg /vɝd͡ʒ/ en-us-verge.ogg /ˈvøːd͡ʒ/ /ˈvɛɾd͡ʒ/ /veːd͡ʒ/ /vɛːd͡ʒ/

Word forms

verge verges verging verged

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

berm besidewalk boulevard boulevard strip city easement common county strip curb lawn curb strip devil strip/devil's strip/devilstrip drivestrip/drive strip easement extension lawn furniture zone grass bay grassplot hellstrip island strip landscape zone long acre median mow strip nature strip neutral ground parking parking strip parkrow parkstrip/park strip parkway parkway strip planter zone planting strip right-of-way road allowance road verge roadside shoulder sidewalk buffer sidewalk lawn sidewalk plot sidewalk strip street lawn subway swale terrace tree belt tree box tree lawn utility strip verge

Derived words

on the verge on the verge of soft-verge verge escapement verger verge staff converge convergence convergent diverge divergence divergent verge on

Translations

Chinese Mandarin: 權杖 /权杖 Chinese Mandarin: 邊 /边 Chinese Mandarin: 邊緣 /边缘 Dutch: roede Dutch: staf Finnish: valtikka Finnish: reuna Finnish: parras Finnish: raja Finnish: ääri Finnish: äyräs Indonesian: ambang Russian: жезл Russian: по́сох Russian: грань Russian: край Russian: грани́ца Russian: рубе́ж Bulgarian: край Bulgarian: предел Czech: pokraj Czech: okraj Galician: beira Georgian: კიდე Georgian: ზღვარი Georgian: საზღვარი Georgian: მიჯნა Georgian: ნაპირი German: Rand Irish: broinne Irish: ciumhais Portuguese: beira Portuguese: beirada Scottish Gaelic: iomall Scottish Gaelic: oir Spanish: arcén Spanish: borde Turkish: kenar
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