▪ I. asperge, v.
(əˈspɜːdʒ)
[(a. F. asperge-r) ad. L. asperg-ĕre, f. a-= ad- to, at + spargĕre to sprinkle.]
1. To sprinkle, besprinkle.
| 1547 Boorde Brev. Health xlii. 21 b, A cockrel or a pullet..rosted, and with butter and veneger asperged. 1637 Gillespie Eng. Pop. Cer. iii. i. 5 He who entering into a Church doth not asperge himselfe. 1875 H. Kingsley No. Seventeen II. xvii. 205 Being asperged with holy water by a priest. |
† 2. = asperse. (Bailey 1721.) Obs.
▪ II. aˈsperge, n.
[f. prec., or next.]
a. A sprinkling of holy water (obs.). b. An aspergillum.
| 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 428/1 What are all their asperges of holie water that the Papistes vse? 1848 A. Jameson Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850) 226 The pot of holy water, the asperge in her hand. |