▪ I. † ˈverger1 Obs.
Also 5 vergere, vergier, Sc. virger.
[a. OF. verger (11th c.; so in mod.F.), vergier (12th c.; = Pr. vergier):—L. virdiārium, viridiārium (also viridārium), f. viridis green.]
A garden or orchard; a pleasure-garden.
| 13.. Seuyn Sag. 167 Thai wolde make a riche halle, Withouten Rome, in on verger..bi o riuer. c 1400 Rom. 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-ynne was all maner of fruyt and alle maner of flowres. 1480 Caxton Ovid's Met. xiv. xii, To wede and pyk oute alle the evyl herbes and wedes out of her verger or gardyn. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. i. Prol. 44 The greshoppers amangis the vergers gnappit. |
▪ II. verger2
(ˈvɜːdʒə(r))
Also 7 vierger.
[prob. a. AF. *verger, f. verge verge n.1 Cf. OF. vergiere (vergeur) gauger, vergier maker of rings, obs. F. verger verger (Cotgr.); also med.L. virgārius, and virger.]
1. An official who carries a rod or similar symbol of office before the dignitaries of a cathedral, church, or university († or before justices).
| c 1402 in Peterborough Registry (MS.), fol. 457, Officium hostiarii, alias dictum verger, in eodem [collegio de Wyndesore] vacans. 1472–3 Rolls of Parlt. 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. Acc. (1896) 75 To Thomas Johnson y⊇ verger at owr ladye churche. 1607 Cowell Interpr., Vergers..be such as cary white wands before the Iustices 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. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 197/1 The Verger [of the Cathedral Church] is a Man in a Gown..whose Office it is to conduct the Reader to his place [etc.]. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. Notes 117 The Emperor,..taking a wand in his hand, officiated as verger,..preceding the pontiff to the altar. 1846 Hook Ch. Dict. (ed. 5) 900 Verger,..he who carries the mace before the dean in a cathedral or collegiate church. 1854 Ibid. (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. c 1530 in Gutch Coll. Cur. II. 340 Item oone Verger Rodde of silvar parcel gilte. 1546 Inv. Ch. Goods (Surtees) 137 Two verger rodys of sylver. |
| transf. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xii. 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.
| 1707 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. ii. 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.]. 1824 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. 1861 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. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet I. 182 The beadles and vergers curtsied to the quality and remained behind for doles. |
† 2. (See quot.) Obs.—1
| 1469 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 48 Mynstrelles, xiii, whereof one is verger that directeth them all in festivall dayes to theyre stations, to bloweings, pipynges [etc.]. |
Hence ˈvergerless a., unaccompanied by a verger; ˈvergership, the office of a verger.
| 1485 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 383/2 The Office of our Sergeauntship at Armes, and..the Office of Vergership of Wyndesore. 1871 Daily News 12 Aug., The Vergership in St. Paul's Cathedral, vacant by the death of Mr. Cummings. 1886 J. J. Hissey On Box Seat fr. Lond. to Land's End 167 The cathedral, over which we were considerately allowed to ramble vergerless, much to our enjoyment. |
▪ III. † verger3 Obs.—1
[? a. AF. vergiere (Gower).]
A rod carried as a symbol of office; = verge n.1 4 a.
| 1547 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) II. App. A. 10 Then 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. |