verge

verge · noun¹

1. Latin · derived fromvirga“shoot, rod stick”
2. Middle French · borrowed fromverge“rod or wand of office”
3. English todayverge

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.

verge · verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*werg-“to turn”
2. Latin · borrowed fromvergō“to bend, turn, tend toward, incline”
3. English todayverge

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.

Words from the same roots