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VERGER. 128 VERIFICATIVB.
belonging to, a series of Appalachian strata corresponding
in age to the middle Devonian strata of
British geologists.
1858 H. D. Rogers Geoi. FenMsyiv. I. loS Vergent Flags
(Portage Flags of New York). Ibid,, Vergent Shales (Chemung
Group of New York). Ibid. 1 1, 732 The Cadent and
Vet^nt rocks contain important bands of iron ore.
vergeous, obs. form of Vebjlice.
tVeTger'. Obs. Also 5 vergere, vergier, 5(-.
virger. [a. OF. z'^r^^(iith c. ; so in mod.F.),
7>€rgier (12th c. ; = Pr. vergier) :— L. virdiariumy
virididrium (also viridariuni)^ f. viridis green.]
A garden or orchard ;
a pleasure-garden.
13. . Senyn Sag, 167 Thai woldemakea richehalle, Withouten
Rome, in on verger. .bi o riuer. ciioo Rem. Rose
3831 Why hast thou ben so necligent, To kepen . . This verger
heere left in thi warde? c 1450 Merlin xix. 310 Merlin lete
rere a vergier, where->-nne was all maner of fruyt and alle
maner of flowTes. 1480 Caxton Ovid^s Met. xiv. xii. To
wcde and pyk oute alle the evyl herbes and wedes out of her
verger or gardyn. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. !, Prol. 44 The
greshoppers amangis the vergers gnappit.
^ (va-jd^aj). Also 7 vierger. [prob.
Vorjfer
a, AF. *verger^ f. verge Verge sb}- Cf. Of . vergure
{vergettr) ganger, vergier maker of rings, obs.
F, verger verger (Cotgr.); also med.L. virgdriusy
and Virger.]
1. An official who carries a rod or similar symbol
of office before the dignitaries of a cathedral,
church, or university (for before justices).
i47»-3 Rolls of PavU. VI. 48/1 Howe that Henr* late
Duke of Lancastr'.. founded, .a Churche. .of a Deane,. .vi
Choresters, and a Verger perpetuell. 1530 Palsgr. 284/2
Verger that bereth a rodde in the churche, sergent de
lesglise. c 1549 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Ace. (1896) 75
To Thomas Johnson y* verger at owr ladye churche. 1607
CowKLL f'lterfir., Vergers.. \x such as cary white wands
before the lustices of either banke, &c..; otherwise called
Porters of the verge. 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass
IV. iv, I must walk With the French sticke, like an old
Vierger, for you. 168S R. Holme Armoury iii. 197/1 The
Verger [of the Cathedral Church] is a Man in a Gown
..whose Offic* it is to conduct the Reader to his place
(etc.]. 1818 BVRON Ch. Han iv. Notes 117 The Emperor,
. .taking a wand in his hand, officiated as verger,, .preceding
the pontiff to the altar. 1846 Hook Ch. Diet, (ed. 5) 900
l^erger, . .he who carries the mace before the dean in a
cathedral or collegiate church. 1854 /did. (ed. 7) 782 Verger.
An officer with a similar title precedes the vice-chancellor in
the English universities. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset II.
xlix. 59 For nearly a week, .he had been unable to face the
minor canons and vergers.
attrib. CX530 in Gutch ColL Cur. II. 340 Item oone Ver.
ger Rodde of silvar parcel gilte. 1546 Inv. Ch. Goods
(Surtces) 137 Two verger rodys of sylver.
trans/. 1615 Chapman Od^ss. xn. 555 This by Calypso, I
was told, and she Inform'd it, from the verger Mercurie.
b. One whose duty it is to take care of the
interior of a church, and to act as attendant.
17OT Farquhar Beaux' Strai. n. ii, Then I, Sir, tips me
the Verger with half a Crown. 1784 Gentl. Mag. May 349/1,
I felt a secret satisfaction on visiting, .the tombs in Westminster
Abbey, that the verger no longer amuses the gaping
vulgar [etc.]. 18*4 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 258 The parish
clerk bowed low before him \sc. the squire] and the vergers
humbled themselves unto the dust in his presence. i86x
Sat. Rev. 30 Nov. 568 How splendid an opportunity for
architectural study is afforded by the Abbey, if only the
vergers would allow any one to enjoy it. i88i Besant &
Rice Chapl. ofFleet I. 182 The beadles and vergers curtsied
to the quality and remained behind for doles.
t2. (Seequot.) Obs,-^
i^ Liber Niger in Househ, Ord. (1790) 48 Mynstrelles,
xiii, whereof one is verger that directeth them all in festival!
dayes to theyre stations, to bloweings, pipynges [etc.].
Hence Ve-rg-erless a,, unaccompanied by a
verger; Te'rgersUp, the office of a verger.
14^ RollsofParlt. VI. 383/2 The Office of our Sergeauntship
at Armes, and . . the Office of Vergership of Wyndesore.
1871 Daily Neivs 12 Aug., The Vergership in St. Paul's
Cathedra), vacant by the death of Mr. Cummings. 1886
HissEV On Box Seat fr. Lond. to Lands End 167 The
cathedral, over which we were considerately allowed to
ramble vergerless, much to our enjoyment.
tVerger 3. Obsr"^ [? a. AF. vergiere (Gower).]
A rod carried as a symbol of office ; = Vebge sb^-
4 a.
1547 m Strjpe EccL Mem. {iti\) II. App. A. loThen came
the sergeant of the vestry with his verger, and after him the
cros, with the children [etc.]. 1647 Hexham i, A Verger,
een roedeken.
tVeTgerer. Obs. Also 5 vergerar-. [Extended
f. Verger 2 i : see -erI 3.] = Vergeu2 i.
Hence f Ver^erership. Obs.
\^ RollsofParlt. VI. 347/2 The Office of Vergerarshipp
of Wyndesore. 1566 tr. Beza's Admon. to Parlt. Dj,
Cathedrall churches, where master Deane, ..pentJoners,
readers, vergerirs, &c. liue in great idlenesse. 1617 Minsheu
Ductors.\.^ Vergerers..be such, as carry Virgas, i. roddes
before the lustices of either banck, &c. 1676 Wood Life
(O.H.S.) II. 362 His father was vergerer of Westminster.
Vergeress (v9-jd.53res). [f. Vekger 2 + -ess.]
A female verger or caretaker of a church.
1889 Daily News 13 Nov. 3/3, I wonder some old vergeress
did not come forward to claim the purse. 190Z JVestm.
Gaz. 4 Jan. 3/1 The vergeress who sweeps he floor.
VeTgerism, rare~^, [f. as prec. + -iSM.]
Action, etc., characteristic of a verger.
1857 Rusk:n'^/^/«. DrawingW. 155 There is always some
discordant civility, or jarring vergerism about them {sc,
English cathedrals].
Vergery (v5'jd53ri). rare—^. [f, as prec.+
-T.] A sacristy.
i88a M'Clintock & Strong Cycl. Bib. Lit. VIII, 515
Cassell's Suppl.), The consecrated priests repair to the
vergery, and put down the missal garments.
Verges, obs. form of Verjuice.
t Verge-salt. Obs.-^ (Meaning obscnre.)
1656 S. H. Golden La7v To Rdr., All which .. are
immaterial to Matter, and but ceremonies to substance, as
Rose-leaves and Verge-salt are to a sound and wholsome
dish of meat.
t Verge-sauce. Obs. rare. = Verd-sauce,
ci^^o Profti^. Parz>.$og/i Vergefiawce, . .7dride salsamentrtfrr.
c 1450 T7vo Cookery Bks. 102 pe sauce is verge sauce,
Vergesse, -geus, etc., obs. ff. Verjuice.
Vergier, variant of Verger 1 Obs.
Vergiform (v5'jd,:5if]pjm), a, Zool. [f. Verge
sby + -(I}form.] Of the feet of certain crustaceans:
Resembling a rod; rod-like.
\Zyj Penny Cycl. VIII. 197/2 Podophthalmia.. ; feet or
extremities vergiform, partly prehensile, partly ambulatory.
xSga Dana Crust, i. 433 There are a few m which these feet
are vergiform.
Vergilian, var. Virgilian. Vergine, obs. f.
Virgin. Vergious, -is, -ius, obs. ff. Verjuice.
Vergobret (v5*jg^bret), [ad, L. vergobretus,
of Gaulish origin. So obs. Y. vergohert.'\ The
chief magistrate among the ancient yEdui of Gaul.
Also iransf,
X563 GoLDiNG Cxsart. 12 The princlpall office, whichthey
call Vergobret, ..is an offyce that lasteth but from yere to
yere, and for the tyme hath absolutepower of life and deathe.
1656 in Blount Glossogr. 1839 Kf.ightlev Hist, Eng.
I. 3 The power of the Vergobret, or Prince of each tribe, was
absolute. xSga ¥REEtrj^.,
Rise Antichrist Wits. 1788 V. 443 It hath.. only the traditional
verification of the Evidence of a past Fact. 178a J.
Brown View Nat. ^ Rev. Reiig. u. i. 139 All the dispositions
and actions of mankind are a plain verification of the
leading truths of his wfjfd. x8o2 Playfair Hlustr. Huiton,
77(. 507 A very unexpected verification of some of the conclusions
deduced above. 1830 Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil.
12 They afl^ord the readiest and completes! verifications of
his theories.^ i88a U.S. Rep. Prec. Met. 613 Let us await
the verification of time.
3. The action of establishing or testing the truth
or correctness of a fact, theory, statement, etc., by
means of special
data.
investigation or comparison of
_ 1603 Florio Montaigne iil v. 521 You waste away and die
in pursuite of so concealed a misierie of so obscure a verification.
163s Jackson Creed vjii. x. § 3 Fitter occasion.,
could not be offered for the exquisite verification or exact
fulfilling of this prophecy. 1677 Plot OxfordsJi. 222 The
latter wrote a verification of all the fix'd stars, as to their
longitude and latitude, for the year 1440. 1837 Whewelu
Hist. Induct, Sci. I. jii. iv. § i. 190 Periods of verification,
as well as epochs of induction, deserve to be attended to.
1855 Maury P/iys. Geog. Sea v. § 294 This estimate . . is not
capable of verification by anymore than the rudest approximations.
1885 Manch. Exam. 12 May 5/3 Nearly a month
will be swallowed up in the verification of the returns.
b. The action of verifying or testing the accuracy
of an instrument, or the quality ofgoods.
attrib.
Also
183a Babbage Econ. Meuiuf. xiv. 103 In the Irish flax
trade, a similar example of the high price paid for verification
occurs. 1888 Pall Mall G. 6 Dec. 5/2 The total number
of instruments rejected as unfit for a verification certificate
owing to excess of error or to other causes was only 346.
4,' [After French usage.] Katification.
1845 S. Austin RanJke's Hist. Ref. III. v. iv. 141 When
the verification of it was laid before the parliament, the procureur
gdn^ral. .sokmnly protested against it. 1865 M.
Arnold Ess. Crit. ii. (1875) 50 By the old constitution of
France, these letters patent required the verification of the
Parliament, j^x W. L. Mathieson Pol. ^ Rel. Scotl. I.
i. 49 'Ihe Parliament of Paris in their act of verification
adopted a very superior tone.
Ve'rificative, a. rare. [f. L, verificdi-y ppl.
stem oiverificdre : see Verify v. and -ative. Cf.
OF. verificatify obs. F. vh-ificatif^ Sp., Pg., It.
verificativo^ Verificatory.
i860 in Worcester (citing A^. Amer. Rev.). Hence in
recent Diets.