Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger. · 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. · The grassy area between the footpath and the street; a tree lawn; a grassed strip running alongside either side of an outback road.
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.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 8 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "bor",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "frm",
"3": "verge",
"4": "",
"5": "rod or wand of office"
},
"expansion": "Middle French verge (“rod or wand of office”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "virga",
"4": "",
"5": "shoot, rod stick"
},
"expansion": "Latin virga (“shoot, rod stick”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "xno",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "Anglo-Norman"
},
{
"name": "doublet",
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"2": "virga"
},
"expansion": "Doublet of virga"
}
],
"links": [
[
"verge",
"verge#Middle_French"
],
[
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[
"Lord High Steward",
"Lord High Steward"
],
[
"virga",
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]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.",
"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.",
"The grassy area between the footpath and the street; a tree lawn; a grassed strip running alongside either side of an outback road."
],
"tags": [
"UK",
"historical",
"Australia",
"New-Zealand",
"Western"
],
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}