What is "verge"

Verge \Verge\, n. [F. verge, L. virga; perhaps akin to E. wisp.]

1. A rod or staff, carried as an emblem of authority; as, the verge, carried before a dean.

2. The stick or wand with which persons were formerly admitted tenants, they holding it in the hand, and swearing fealty to the lord. Such tenants were called tenants by the verge. [Eng.]

3. (Eng. Law) The compass of the court of Marshalsea and the Palace court, within which the lord steward and the marshal of the king's household had special jurisdiction; -- so called from the verge, or staff, which the marshal bore.

4. A virgate; a yardland. [Obs.]

5. A border, limit, or boundary of a space; an edge, margin, or brink of something definite in extent.

   Even though we go to the extreme verge of possibility to invent a supposition favorable to it, the theory . . . implies an absurdity.
   --J. S. Mill.

   But on the horizon's verge descried, Hangs, touched with light, one snowy sail.
   --M. Arnold.

6. A circumference; a circle; a ring.

   The inclusive verge Of golden metal that must round my brow.
   --Shak.

7. (Arch.)

   1. The shaft of a column, or a small ornamental shaft.
      --Oxf. Gloss.

   2. The edge of the tiling projecting over the gable of a roof.
      --Encyc. Brit.

8. (Horol.) The spindle of a watch balance, especially one with pallets, as in the old vertical escapement. See under Escapement.

9. (Hort.)

   1. The edge or outside of a bed or border.

   2. A slip of grass adjoining gravel walks, and dividing them from the borders in a parterre.

10. The penis.

11. (Zo["o]l.) The external male organ of certain mollusks, worms, etc. See Illustration in Appendix.

    Syn: Border; edge; rim; brim; margin; brink.

Verge \Verge\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Verged; p. pr. & vb. n. Verging.] [L. vergere to bend, turn, incline; cf. Skr. v?j to turn.]

1. To border upon; to tend; to incline; to come near; to approach.

2. To tend downward; to bend; to slope; as, a hill verges to the north.

   Our soul, from original instinct, vergeth towards him as its center.
   --Barrow.

   I find myself verging to that period of life which is to be labor and sorrow.
   --Swift.

"tend, incline," c.1600, from Latin vergere "to bend, turn, tend toward, incline," from PIE *werg- "to turn," from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). Influenced by verge (v.2) "provide with a border" (c.1600); "be adjacent to" (1787), from verge (n.). Related: Verged; verging.

"edge, rim," mid-15c., from Old French verge "twig, branch; measuring rod; penis; rod or wand of office" (12c.), hence, from the last sense, "scope, territory dominated" (as in estre suz la verge de "be under the authority of"), from Latin virga "shoot, rod, stick, slender green branch," of unknown origin.\n

\nEarliest attested sense in English is now-obsolete meaning "male member, penis" (c.1400). Modern sense is from the notion of within the verge (c.1500, also as Anglo-French 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 king's court. Sense shifted to "the outermost edge of an expanse or area." Meaning "point at which something happens" (as in on the verge of) is first attested c.1600. "A very curious sense development." [Weekley]

Etymology 1 n. 1 A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger. 2 #(lb en UK historical) 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 #(lb en UK Australia New Zealand) The grassy area between the sidewalk and the street; a tree lawn. 5 #(lb en figuratively) An extreme limit beyond which something specific will happen. 6 (lb en obsolete) The phallus. 7 #(lb en zoology) 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 (lb en architecture) The shaft of a column, or a small ornamental shaft. 11 (lb en architecture) The edge of the tiling projecting over the gable of a roof. 12 (lb en horology) The spindle of a watch balance, especially one with pallets, as in the old vertical escapement. Etymology 2

vb. (context intransitive English) To be or come very close; to border; to approach.

1. n. a region marking a boundary [syn: brink, threshold]

2. the limit beyond which something happens or changes; "on the verge of tears"; "on the brink of bankruptcy" [syn: brink]

3. a ceremonial or emblematic staff [syn: scepter, sceptre, wand]

4. a grass border along a road

v. border on; come close to; "His behavior verges on the criminal"

Verge and similar uses may refer to:

• Verge (Honorverse), area of space in David Weber's Honorverse
• The Verge, a live videogame news and review TV programme on Vuzu in South Africa
• The Verge (shopping mall), a shopping mall in Singapore
• The Verge (website), a technology news network
• The Verge (XM), a Canadian satellite radio station
• The jurisdiction of the Marshalsea Court

Verge is a two-disc compilation album by Japanese music production unit I've Sound and volume two in their Girls Compilation album series. It was released on July 17, 2000, compiling the songs they have produced for various adult PC games as well as some new tracks. The album features vocals by Aki, Ayana, Eiko Shimamiya, Lia, Mako, Mell, Miki, R.I.E and Shiho.

"Verge" is a song by American electronica project Owl City from his fifth studio album Mobile Orchestra. It features guest vocals from American singer Aloe Blacc. The song was released to digital download on May 14, 2015 as the lead single in the album.