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VEBNAGELLE.
like malmesie or muskadine, or bastard wine*
(Florio, i.SqS). CUmed.h. verfta^ttMtVt'/'nadumf
vemachia.'\ A strong and sweet kind of white
Italian wine.
c 1386 Chaucer Merck. T. 563 He drinkith ypocras, clarre,
and vernage Of spices hote, to eiicrese his corrage. 1390
GowER C(m/, III. 8 In stede of drinke I underfonge A
thogbt so swete in mi corage, Thae- nevere Pyment iie
vernage Was half so swete forto drinke. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks.
2a Take«rnage, oJ»er strong wyne of he beste l>at
a man may fynde [etc.]. -pocrasse, and veniage wyne.
So + Vernag-eUe. a variety of vernage. Ohs."*^
c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 118 The namys of swete
wynes y wold >at ye them knewe : Vernage, vernagelle,
wyne Cute, pyment.
Vernage, Sc. form of Wabnage Obs,
VernaSill, -ylle, obs. forms of Vernicle,
Vernal (v3-inal), a. (and sb^. Also 6-7 vernall.
[ad. L. vcmdl-is (rare), f. vermis pertaining
to spring, f. trr spring, Ver sby So OF. and F.,
Prov., Sp., Pg. vernal It. vernah^
1. Coming, appearing, happening, occurring, etc.,
in spring, a. Vernal equinox (or \ equinoctial) :
see Equinox i and 2.
1534 More Treat. Passion Wks. 1308/1 The xiiii. daye
after theyr vernall Equinoctiall in the euenynge. 1594
Blun'devil Exerc. i. xvi. (1597) 151 The beginning of Aries,
which is called the vernal Equinoxe, 160^ Topsell Hist.
Four-/, Beasts 299 From the vernall aequinoctiall to the
summer solstice. 1696 Whiston The. Earth 1,(1722) 39 At
this time, the Vernal Equinox is on the pth of March. 1715 tr.
Gregoiys Astron. iiizti^ I, 316 You wdl have the Longitude
sought from the Verrral Equinox. 1796 H. Hunter St.-
Pierre^s Stud. Nat. (1799) J- i5S The tides at our vernal
Equinox, in March, rise higher than those of September.
1837 Brewster Magmi. 216 During the three months between
the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, i858
LocKyES Elem. Astron. § 171 The days and nights areeaual
all over the world on the 22d of March and the cad of
September, which dates are called the vernal and autumnal
equinoxes.
b. In general use.
1634 Sir T, Herbert Trav. 4 Such time as the Sunne is
vernall, [the Island of Ferro] becomes exceeding hot and
scalding. 1660 Sharrock Vegetables^T. Which are generall
rules for vernall and autumnall settings. 1709 T. Robinson
Vind. Mosaick Syst. 69 These Worms are.. ordained for the
Food of the Vernal Birds, such as the Cuckow. 1769 Gray
Installation Ode ti Sweet is the breath of vernal shower.
1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 54 The vernal heat of the sun.
i8jo Combe Syntax^ CoiisoL i. (Chandos CI.) 139 'Twas as a
vernal evening clos'd, 1842 J. Wilson Chr. North I. 244
ThewholebuiTdingis..asfresh as if just washed by avernal
shower. 187a Yeats Growth Comm. 24 The Babylonian
pJain was subject to vernal floods.
C. Med. Of affections or diseases.
i8aa-7 Good Stud. Med. (1829) II. 134 The vernal agues
generally disappear with the advance of summer. 1843 Sir
T. Watson Lect.Princ. ^ Pract. Physic I. xl. 710 You will
hear and read a good deal of vernal intermittents, and
autumnal intermittents,
2, Of, pertaining or belonging to, the springtime
; appropriate to the spring ; spring-like : a.
Of weather, scenery, etc.
1611 Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. i. ii, We must have none
here But vernal blasts, and gentle winds appear, 1634 T.
Johnson tr. Parens Chirurg. i. xiiL (1678) 18 Such an Air,
,,if it have avernal temper, is good against alt diseases.
1646 Crashaw Sos^. d'Herode xiv, He saw a vernall smile
sweetly disfigure Winters sad face, 1710 Prior Truth Sf
Falsehood 8 The purling stream, the margin green,. With
flowers bedeck'd, a vernal scene. 1778 Warton Hist. Eng.
Poetry II, 51 We fondly anticipate a long continuance of
gentle gales and vernal serenity. But winter returns with
redoubled horrors, i8aa W. Irving Braced. Hall xix, It
was a beautiful morning, of that soft vernal temperature,
that seems to thaw all the frost out of one's blood. 1847 Li.
Hunt Jar Honey ii. (1848) 23 Both heaven and hell are in
it—the freshest vernal airs, with the depths of Tartarus.
1871 B. Taylor ^a«S^ (1875) II. i. i. 6 The Alpine meadows
sloping, vernal, A newer beam descends.
trans/. 1869 Lowell Under the PVilloivs 30 By vernal
Chaucer, whose fresh woods Throb thick with merle and
mavis all the year.
b. Vernal season y the season of spring.
1644 Milton Educat. 7 In these vernal seasons of the
yeer, when the air is calm and pleasant. 1687 MifiCR Gt.
Fr. Diet, II, The Vernal Season, or the Spring, le Printems.
s8o6 Med. Jrnl. XV. 120 In the vernal season. 1864 A.
McKay Hist. Kilmarnock 296 In the vernal season of the
year.
C. In miscellaneous uses.
I7a5 Fam. Diet. s.v. Sallet, They also make an excellent
Vernal Pottage. 1764 Goldsm. Trax>. 118 Whatever
sweets salute the northern sky With vernal lives, that blossom
but to die. 1817 Wordsw. {title), Vernal Ode. Beneath
the concave of an April sky [etc). 1838 J. L, Stephens
Trav. Russia 67/1 Moscow seemed basking in the mild
climate of Southern Asia, rioting in its brief period of vernal
existence. 1885 Patrb Marius I. vi. 112 A kind of mystic
hymn to the vernal principle of life in things.
d. /g. Suggestive of spring; ha/ing the mildness
or freshness of spring ; early, youthful.
1790 Coleridge Moiwdy Death Chatterton viii, Ah !
where are fled the charms of vernal grace, And joy's wild
gleams, light-flashing o'er thy face? 1805 Foster Ess,
1. i. II What is become of all those vernal fancies, which had
so much power to touch the heart ? i8s7 Southev Funeral
Song Princess Charlotte 17 Late in beauty's vernal bloom,
138
1844 Mrs. Browning Catarina to Camoens ii. When I
heard you sing that burden In my vernal days and bowers,
1898 T. Hardy IVessex Poems 100 Captain and Colonel,
Sere Generals, Ensigns vernal, Were there,
3. Of flowers, plants, etc. : Appearing, coming
up, or blooming in spring-time.
169s Ld, Pkeston Boeth. in. 121 Fading sooner than a
vernal Flower 1 17*8 Pope Dune, iii, 33 As thick as bees
o'er vernal blossoms fly. 174a Collins Ode to Liberty 4
The youths,, . Like vernal hyacinths in sullen hue, At once
the bieath of fear and virtue shedding. xj^Med. Jrnl. II.
491 A Journal kept in Spring 1798, to record the time of
flowering of several vernal plants. 1812 H. & .Smith
J.
Horace in Lond. 65 The wood nymphs crown'd with vern.1l
ftow'rs.
b. In specific or popular names of flowers,
plants, or grasses, as vernal Croats^ cyclamen^
gentian^ sandwort, sedge, squill^ etc. (see quots.
and cf. Spring sb^ 'j c a).
1778 Encycl, Brit. (ed. 2) III. 2311 The varieties of the
*vernal crocus are, the small and large [etc.]. x88a Garden
i3 Mar. 188/3 ^h^ common Vernal Crocus, .issopredomin*
ant among spring flowers, 1735 Fam. Diet. s. v. Cyclamen^
Our Botanists reckon upon several Sorts of this Plant, .as
the *Vernal one ; . . another white Vernal single, and the
small Purple Cyclamen. 1728 R. Bradley Diet. Bot., Geniianella
minor Verna, the smaller *Vernal Gentian. 1796
Withering Brit. Plants {tdi. 3) II. 282, 1 thought it possible
that the vernal dwarf Gentian . . might be our plant. i88a
Garden 18 Nov, 442/3 The lovely Vernal Gentian. 1753
Chambers* Cycl, Suppl. s.v. Orobus^ The *vernal, wood
orobus, with a pale red flower. 1731 Miller Gard, Diet.
s.v. OrobnSy *Vernal Purple-Wood Bitter- Vetch. 1848
Johns IVeek at Lizard 303 Arenaria verna, variety
Gerardi, *Vernal Sandwort, is a small plant with numerous
needle-like leaves, and star-like flowers of the most dazzling
white. 1859 Miss Pratt Brit. Grasses 39 Order. Cyperaceae.
..*Vernal Sedge, ..A humble plant from 3-8 inches
high. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 13 Veronica
verna... *\exnsX Speedwell. 1855 Miss Pratt Fio^uer. PI.
IV. 102 Vernal Speedwell. ..This very rare Speedwell, .has
..pale blue flowers. 1796 Withering Brit. PL II. 338
Scilla verna... *Vexn3.\ Squill. [Grows in] meadows and
pastures. 183a Johnston in Proc. Berw, Nat. Club I. 10
It was.. believed that the vernal squill was peculiar to the
western coasts of England. 1796 Withering Brit. Fl, I!
5 Callitriche verna.. ,*Vernal Stargrass. Water Starwort.
Water Fennel. 1855 Miss Pratt Flower. PI. II. 396 Callitriche
verna. *Vernal Water Starwort.
c. Vernal grass^ one of the grasses commonly
cultivated for hay,
i^6a B. Stillingfleet Misc. Tracts {1791) 38a, I saw this
spring a meadow not far from Hampstead.. with someof the
vernal grass and the corn brome grass. 1765 Museum Rust.
IV, 428 The vernal, or spring grass, we find in the class
Diandria Digynia. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 208
The meadow fescue.. and the sweet scented vernal grass
(anthoxanthum odoratum>. i8oa Med. Jml. VIII. 477 The
vernal grass {Antlioxanthut/i odoratum, L.) which is frequentljj
met with in hay. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org.
489 This substance [i.e. coumarinj is found.. in the sweet
scented vernal grass, to which much of the fragrance of hay
is owing.
d. Sown in the spring.
179a .\. Young Trazu France 331 They sow here a vernal
rye, which is a true spring corn, that will not succeed if
sown in autumn,
4. Comb., as vernal-bearded^ -seeming, 'tinctured
adjs,
1744 Akenside Pleas. Iiuag. 11. 104 The melting rainbow's
vernal-tinctured hues. 1857 Whittier Last IValk
Autumn 'w't PiXiA that the vernal-seeming breeze Mocked
faded grass and leafless trees. 1874 L. Morris Old Maytide
iii, Here be stalwart youths and lissome, honest-eyed and
vernal bearded.
5. ellipt. OT ^"i sb. fa. The vernal season ; the
spring. Obs.~^,
1654 E. Johnson IVonder'Work. Provid. 106 The vernall
of the yeare 1637. being now in his prime.
b. = Vernal grass (see 3 c above).
1771 Young Farjtier's Tour East Eng. II. 256 The grass
has consisted chiefly of the holchus, .,a little meadow fox
tail, and great poa:.,it is remarkable that no vernal has
appeared. 1834 Brit. Husb. I, 514 Anthoxanthum odoraturn,
or sweet-scented vernal, is one of the earliest of our
grasses. 1908 Animal Manogem. 114 The aroma of good
hay is due to the aromatic grasses contained in it, Sweet
Vernal being the variety which is mainly responsible.
C. //. Seeds of vernal grass. rare~^,
17S4 Trans. Soc, Arts II. 60 Mix the Vernals and Hay
seeds together.
Hence Terually adv. rare.
jjzy Bailey (vol. II), Vemally, according to or in the
Spring of the Year. x^8 Ainger Let. in Sichel /,yt (1906)
xiii. 235 He thinks the Tweens are also vernally cleaning
themselves.
Verna "lity, rare. [f. Vernal a. + -ity.]
f 1, The 'spring-time' i?/" something. Obs.
1639 Wotton in Relig. (1672) 477, I was then surprized
with an advertisement from Court, of the death of . . my
dear nephew, in the vernality (as I may term it) of his
employments and fortunes.
2. (See quot.)
1896 Agric. Gaz. iB May 470/1 Vernality expresses that
property of rich and shaded pasture land wnicli makes them
a lovely green, with tender and close clustering spring
shoots,
Ve'rnalizef ^- rare. [f. as prec. -i- -ize.] trans.
To render vernal or spring-like.
1830 Erasers Mag. I, 500 By the amenity of their smile
and their dallying jocundity, irradiating and vernalising
whatever that smile and jocundity consecrate by tipping and
touching. 1898 W.Watson Poems, Lines Richmond Park
165 The stored sunlight in your hair and eyes Would
vernalise November, and renew the aged year.
VERNICLE.
t Ve'rnancy, Obsr"^ [See next ami -ANCY.]
The condition or quality of being vemant.
1669 Addr.hope/ulyng. Gentry 0/Eng. t\\^ that expect.s
after a deluge the same vernancy, disposition and order,
the soil was before adorn'd with.
VeTHant, a. Now rare or Obs. Also 5 vernand,
6 veruaunte, varuaunt, [a. OK. vernant
vernal, ad. L. vemant-, vernans, pres. pple. of
vcrndre to flourish, be verdant.]
1. Flourishing or growing in, or as in, spring,
vyolett vernand with
c 1440 York Myst. XXV. 498 Hayll !
swete odoure. 1513 Bkadshavv St. IVetburge 1. 606 A..
plante, Whiche dayly encreased by sufl'eraunce deuyne,
Merueylously growynge in her, fresshe and varnaunt. Ibid.
2808 Whiche tree to this day, endurynge all the yere, By
inyracle is vernaunle, fresshe, green, and clere, \t^ Pilgr.
Per/. (W, de W, 1531) 83 A floure, whan it is fresshe, vernant
& newe, ..is moche delectable & swete. 1567 Tur-
BERViLE Poems no Vernant flowers that appeere To clad
the soile with mantell newe. 1615 Brathwait Strappado,
etc. (1878) 316 The tree sent out her Branches, which did
couer their corps with vernant blossoms. 1667 Milton P.L.
X. 679 Else had the Spring Perpetual smil'd on Earth with
vernant Flours, 1728-30 Thomson Spring 81 The pene.
trative Sun.. sets the steaming Power At large, to wander
o'er the vernant Earth. iS^z Eraser's Mag. XXVI. 80 The
vernant branches feel the breeze, /bid. 82 The cool delicious
shade Of vernant oak.
trans/, and^^. 1607 Brewer Lingua i. i. Aiiijb, Oft
haue L.embelisht my entreatiue phrase With smelling
flowres of vernant Rhetorique, 1615 Brathwait Strappado,
etc. (1878) 317 Let not your vernant bosome so retaine, all
comfort from the oat-pipe of a Swaine. 1661 Bp. Rust
Origen Hf his Opinions 89 The excellencie of the vernant
youth and spring of the renewed world.
b. Freshly green; verdant.
1594 WiLLOBiE Avisa (1880) 97 The flowring hearbes, the
pleasant spring, That deckes the fieldes with vernant hew.
i6ai Brathwait Nat. Embassie 3 Should I not.. garnish
her with Flora's vernant hue ?
2. Pertaining to the spring ; vernal.
1654 Gavton Pleas. Notes iv. 211 The Trees, .were so
closely interwoven, that the vernant and asstivall Sunne
beames could not pierce their rare imbroydery.
3. Of or forming the * spring-time * of life.
1794 W. RoBEitTs Looker-on III. 381 The green platform
of our vernant years.
+ VeTnate, v. Obs."-^ [f. L. verndt-, ppl. stem
of vcrndre (see prec.).] intr. (See quot.)
16*3 CocKERAM I, Vernate, to wax young againe.
Vernation (vam^'Jan). [In sense i ad, mod.L.
verndtio (Linnieus), f. L. verndre : see Vebnant
a. (So F. vernation.) In sense 2 directly f. L.
verndt', ppl. stem of vemdreJ]
1, Bot. The arrangement or formation of the
leaves of plants or fronds of ferns in the bud ; the
manner in which the rudimentary or unexpanded
leaves are disposed prefoliation.
;
1793 Martyn Lang. Bot., Foliatio, foliation, vernation,
or leafing, i8a9 Lindlev Syn. Brit. Flora 88 Prunus,
vernation convolute, /bid., Cerasus, vernation conduplicate.
1830 — Nat. Syst. Bot. 157 The vernation of
both the calyx and petals. 1857 P, H. Gosse Omphalos 131
The green and leafy arches were once coiled up in a
circinate vernation, 188a Vines Sachs* Bot. 428 The leaves
of Ferns are usually characterised by a circinate vernation.
2. Vegetable growth or development, as characteristic
of the spring, rare or Obs.
i8a7 Steuart /Planter's G. (1828) 320 The season of
vernation erelong will come on, the leaves will be enlarged,
and assume a far deeper and more lively green. 1867 A* L.
Adams IVand. Nat. /ndia 68 From the earliest appearance
of Vernation in March up to the end of May.
Verne, obs. var. Fekn sb."^ (windlass).
f Verne, obs. var. ume Run v.
a IMS MS. Rawl. B, 320 fol. 32 J>at alle ben certein in
euenche contreie f>at te foreseide peine sal verne [F. curra\
grefiiche.
Vemeuk (vaanz/k), V. S. African slang. Also
vinook. [ad. Cape Du. verneuken (also in W,
Flem., with variant tv/-w«>^^«/).] trans. To cheat,
humbug, swindle.
1871 Cape Mont/tly Mag. III. 46 (Pettman), How Hendrick
enjoyed verneuking the Boer. 1905 D. Blackburn
R. Hartley, Prospector xiii, So you have verneuked me?
1009 R. CuLLUM Compact xviii. 213 He has vinooked the
Kaffir chiefs into granting large concessions.
Hence Verneu'ker. Also Verneu'kering' vbl.
sb., Yerneu'kery [a. Cape Du. vemciU'cn'c.']
1896 in IVestm. Gaz. 4 July 8/1 But we women of South
Africa despise such maudlin verneukery. 1900 Sir J.
Robinson Li/e Time S. A/rica vii. 185 Hence arose the
practice of * verneukering '—by which buyer and seller each
sought to get the better of the other. 1905 D. Blackburn
R. Hartley xiii, Do you take me for a Boer verneuker ?
Vernice, obs. form of Varni3H sb.'^
Vernicle (va-mik*!). Forms : a, 4, 8-9 vernicle,
4 fernyclo, 4-6 vernycle. 3. 5 vernacul(l,
-cule,
6 varnacle.
vernakill, -kylle, 5-9 vernacle,
[a. AF. and OF. vernicle, = OF.
veron{n)icle, varr. of veronique, ad. med.L. veronica
the sudarium of St. Veronica : see Veeonica '^
and cf. Veronicle, Vebonique. On the change
of -ique to -icle see the note to Chbonicle sb^
1. The picture or representation of the face of
Christ said to be impressed upon the handkerchief
or sudarium of St. Veronica (see 2); any similar
picture of Christ's face, esp, one engraved, painted,