vergé

Forms

vergé (feminine vergée, masculine plural vergés, feminine plural vergées)^[1] Old French vergiet and vergié; the spelling vergé is recorded from the 16th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin virgātus (“woven with osier rods, striped”), an adjective formed from virga (“rod, stripe”), the source of verge.^[4][5][6][7] Rey dates the modern spelling to 1380, after the older vergiet and vergié;^[8] Wiktionary allows that it may instead have been formed in French from that noun.^[1] Picoche lists it among the popular members of the same family.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is helme vergié in Gormont et Isembart (1085–1110), a helmet decorated and strengthened with metal bands.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

About 1170 Chrétien de Troyes used it of skin marked with stripes by blows, and by 1244 it was a cloth-making term for a fabric in which some threads stand out from the rest.^[4][8][2] Middle French also applied it to goldsmith's work, meaning “chased, fluted” (1380), and to striped fustian (1477);^[10] the Anglo-Norman word meant “bordered, striped” and “reinforced with metal strips”.^[11]

In 1845 Bescherelle recorded papier vergé, paper showing the fine lines called vergeures, and Huysmans used vergé alone as a noun for such paper in 1884.^[4][8][2] The paper sense is the one still in use; the fabric sense has become old-fashioned.^[8][4]

Timeline

• 1085–1110 – Helme vergié “banded helmet” appears in Gormont et Isembart.^[4]
• c. 1170 – Chrétien de Troyes uses vergié for “striped by blows” in Erec et Enide.^[4][2]
• 1244 – The cloth-making regulations of Châlons use it of a fabric with distinct threads.^[4][2]
• 1380 – It describes chased or fluted goldsmith's work.^[10]
• 1550 – The spelling vergé is recorded.^[3][12]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records papier vergé.^[4][2]
• 1884 – Huysmans uses vergé as a noun for laid paper.^[4][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (papermaking) Of paper: laid, showing the fine parallel lines left by the wires of the mould: un bloc de papier vergé.^[12][6][1]
2. (dated) Of a fabric: having some threads thicker or more strongly dyed than the rest, ribbed or streaked.^[4][2][7]

Noun

1. Laid paper: un vergé ivoire.^[4][12][6]

Related words

• vergée
• vergeure
• vergeture
• verge
• Latin virgātus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 501b
6. ^ a b c Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert