verve
See also: Verve
English
WOTD – 28 November 2021
Etymology
Borrowed from French verve (“animation; caprice, whim; rapture; spirit; vigour; type of expression”),[1] probably from Late Latin verva, a variant of Latin verba (“words; discourse; expressions; language”),[2] the plural of verbum (“word”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- (“to say, speak”). Doublet of verb and word.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /vɜːv/
- (General American) IPA(key): /vɝv/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)v
Noun
verve (uncountable)
- Enthusiasm, rapture, spirit, or vigour, especially of imagination such as that which animates an artist, musician, or writer, in composing or performing.
- Synonyms: brio, élan, liveliness, moxie, panache, vivacity; see also Thesaurus:enthusiasm
- 1879–1880, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Stowaways”, in The Amateur Emigrant: From the Clyde to Sandy Hook, Chicago, Ill.: Stone and Kimball, published 18 January 1895, OCLC 523063, page 105:
- His hands were strong and elegant; his experience of life evidently varied; his speech full of pith and verve; his manners forward, but perfectly presentable.
- 1920 April, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “Spires and Gargoyles”, in This Side of Paradise, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, OCLC 249911691, book I (The Romantic Egotist), page 63:
- They played through vacation to the fashionable of eight cities. […] Chicago he approved for a certain verve that transcended its loud accent—however, it was a Yale town, and as the Yale Glee Club was expected in a week the Triangle received only divided homage.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
- Normally, this [girl] presents to the world the appearance of one who is feeling that if it isn't the best of all possible worlds, it's quite good enough to be going on with till a better one comes along. Verve, I mean, and animation and all that sort of thing. But now there was a listlessness about her […]
- 2012 April 9, Mandeep Sanghera, “Tottenham 1 – 2 Norwich”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 3 November 2017:
- After spending so much of the season looking upwards, the swashbuckling style and swagger of early season Spurs was replaced by uncertainty and frustration against a Norwich side who had the quality and verve to take advantage.
- (obsolete) A particular skill in writing.
- 1697, John Dryden, “To the Most Honourable John, Lord Marquess of Normanby, […]”, in Virgil; John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432, page [184]:
- If he be above Virgil, and is reſolv'd to follow his own Verve (as the French call it,) the Proverb will fall heavily upon him; Who teaches himſelf, has a Fool for his Maſter.
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Derived terms
- vervy
Translations
enthusiasm, rapture, spirit, or vigour, especially of imagination such as that which animates an artist musician, or writer, in composing or performing — See also translations at spirit, vigour
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References
- “verve, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2018. - “verve, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
verve (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - verve in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- verve in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Anagrams
- vever
Dutch
Verb
verve
- (archaic) singular present subjunctive of verven
French
Etymology
Probably from Late Latin verva, a variant of Latin verba (“words; discourse; expressions; language”), the plural of verbum (“word”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wérdʰh₁om (“that which is said; utterance, word”), from the verb *wérdʰh₁eti (“to speak, say”), derived from the root *werh₁- + *-dʰh₁eti. Doublet of verbe.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vɛʁv/
Noun
verve f (plural verves)
- eloquence
- verve, brio
Descendants
- → English: verve
- → German: Verve
- → Italian: verve
Further reading
- “verve”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Hungarian
Etymology
ver (“to beat”) + -ve (adverbial-participle suffix)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈvɛrvɛ]
- Hyphenation: ver‧ve
- Rhymes: -vɛ
Participle
verve
- adverbial participle of ver
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from French verve.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvɛrv/[1]
- Rhymes: -ɛrv
Noun
verve f (invariable)
- verve
- Synonyms: brio, estro, vivacità
References
- verve in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
Norwegian Nynorsk
Alternative forms
- verva (a-infintive)
Etymology
From Old Norse hverfa, with influence from Middle Low German werven. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hwarbijaną. Doublet of kverve.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /²ʋær.ʋə/
Verb
verve (present tense vervar, past tense verva, past participle verva, passive infinitive vervast, present participle vervande, imperative verve/verv)
- (transitive) to enlist
- (reflexive) to enlist, to join a cause or organization, especially military service
References
- “verve” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Anagrams
- vever