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verse

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /vɜːs/, /ˈvɜːs/ (UK); /ˈvɝs/, /vɜrs/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English vers, partly from Old English fers, an early borrowing of Latin, partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman vers (“line of verse; rhyme, song”), Old French vers,[2][3][4] from Latin versus (“a turning of the plough, a furrow; a line, row, line of writing”),[2][4][3] from vertere (“to turn”), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, bend”).[2] The metaphor is of ploughing, turning from one line to the next as a ploughman does.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A line of poetry: about 900 in the OED.[6] A line or section of a psalm is late Old English in Etymonline.[2]

Semantic evolution

In liturgy, a versicle is from about 960.[6] One of the sections of a psalm or canticle is from about 1200,[6] and the numbered divisions of a Bible chapter are from the 16th century.[4] Metrical composition generally is from the mid-14th century, and a stanza from the 14th century.[2][4] The non-repeating part of a popular song, between the choruses, is by 1918.[2] The verb, to make verses, is late Old English, and to be well-versed first meant to be put into elegant verse (mid-15th century).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 900 – a line of poetry.[6]
  • c. 1200 – a section of a psalm.[6]
  • mid-14th century – poetry generally.[2]
  • 16th century – a Bible verse.[4]
  • 1918 – a verse of a song.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Writing arranged in lines with a regular rhythm; poetry.
  2. A group of lines forming a unit in a poem or song; a stanza.
  3. One of the numbered short divisions of a chapter in the Bible.
  4. A single line of poetry.

Word family

  • underverse
  • blank verse
  • chapter and verse
  • heroic verse
  • Leonine verse
  • society verse
  • free verse

Usage notes

A separate verb verse, to make familiar with (as in versed), is a back-formation from versed, from Latin versatus (1599).[3][7] A slang verb verse, to play against, is a back-formation from versus (1956).[3]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press