Online Etymology Dictionary

verbosity (n.): 1540s, from French verbosité (16c.) or directly from Late Latin verbositas, from Latin verbosus (see verbose).
verboten (adj.): 1912, German, literally "forbidden" (see forbid).
verdant (adj.): 1580s, "green in color; green with vegetation," from Middle French virdeant "becoming green," present participle of Old French verdeiier "become green," from Vulgar Latin *viridiare "grow green, make green," from Latin viridis "green" (see verdure). Related: Verdantly; verdancy.
verdict (n.): 1530s, alteration of Middle English verdit (c. 1300), "a jury's decision in a case," from Anglo-French verdit (Old French voirdit) "sworn testimony, affidavit; judgment, written record of a verdict," literally "a true saying or report," from ver, veir "true" (see very) + dit, past participle of dire "to say" (see diction). Spelling influenced by Medieval Latin verdictum "a verdict."
verdigris (n.): c. 1300, vertegrez, from Old French verte grez (13c.), verte de Grece (late 12c.), literally "green of Greece," from obsolete French verd, from Latin viridis (see verdure). The reason for it being called that is not known. In other languages, "green of Spain" (German grünspan, Danish spanskgrönt, Dutch spaansch-groen), from Medieval Latin viride Hispanum. Current spelling in English is from 1789. In chemistry, confined to a basic copper acetate; popularly applied to the green encrustation on copper or brass exposed to the air.
verdure (n.): late 14c., "fresh green color," from Old French verdure "greenness, greenery, green fields, herbs," from verd, variant of vert "green" (12c.), from Latin viridis (source of Spanish, Italian verde), related to virere "be green," of unknown origin. Perhaps ultimately from a root meaning "growing plant" and cognate with Lithuanian veisti "propagate," Old Norse visir "bud, sprout," Old English wise "sprout, stalk, etc." Meaning "green plants, vegetation" is attested from c. 1400.
verdurous (adj.): c. 1600, from verdure + -ous.
verge (n.): "edge, rim," mid-15c., from Old French verge "twig, branch; measuring rod; penis; rod or wand of office" (12c.), hence, from the last sense, "scope, territory dominated" (as in estre suz la verge de "be under the authority of"), from Latin virga "shoot, rod, stick, slender green branch," of unknown origin.

Earliest attested sense in English is now-obsolete meaning "male member, penis" (c. 1400). Modern sense is from the notion of within the verge (c. 1500, also as Anglo-French dedeinz la verge), i.e. "subject to the Lord High Steward's authority" (as symbolized by the rod of office), originally a 12-mile radius round the king's court. Sense shifted to "the outermost edge of an expanse or area." Meaning "point at which something happens" (as in on the verge of) is first attested c. 1600. "A very curious sense development." [Weekley]
verge (v.1): "tend, incline," c. 1600, from Latin vergere "to bend, turn, tend toward, incline," from PIE *werg- "to turn," from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). Influenced by verge (v.2) "provide with a border" (c. 1600); "be adjacent to" (1787), from verge (n.). Related: Verged; verging.
vergence (n.): 1902 in ophthalmology, from verge (v.) + -ence. From 1660s as "fact or condition of being inclined" (toward something). Related: Vergency.
verger (n.): "one who carries a verge as an officer of the church," c. 1400, probably from Anglo-French *verger, from verge (see verge (n.)).
veridical (adj.): "speaking truth," 1650s, from Latin veridicus "truth-telling, truthful," from verum "truth," neuter of verus "true" (see very) + dic-, stem of dicere "to speak" (see diction). Probably based on French véridique. Related: Veridically.
verifiable (adj.): 1590s, from verify + -able. Related: Verifiably; verifiability.
verification (n.): 1520s, from Medieval Latin *verificationem (nominative verificatio), noun of action from past participle stem of verificare (see verify). Middle English had verifiaunce "confirmation, corroboration" (c. 1400).
verify (v.): early 14c., from Old French verifier "substantiate, find out the truth about" (14c.), from Medieval Latin verificare "make true," from Latin verus "true" (see very) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious).
verily (adv.): "in truth," early 14c., from Middle English verray "true, real" (see very) + -ly (2).
verisimilitude (n.): "appearance of truth or reality, likelihood," c. 1600, from French verisimilitude (1540s), from Latin verisimilitudo "likeness to truth," from veri, genitive of verum, neuter of verus "true" (see very) + similis "like, similar" (see similar). Related: Verisimilar.
verism (n.): "the theory that art and literature should strictly reproduce truth," 1892, from Italian verismo, from vero "truth," from Latin verus (see very) + -ismo, Italian form of -ism.
veritable (adj.): early 15c., from Anglo-French and Old French veritable "true, real, truthful, valid (in law)," from verité (see verity) + -able. Probably lost mid-17c. and reborrowed or revived after 1830. Related: Veritably.
veritas (n.): Latin, literally "truth, truthfulness," from verus "true" (see very). Latin phrase in vino veritas (1590s in English; "in wine, truth," that is, "the truth comes out when one has been drinking") is attributed to Pliny the Elder, though there is a Greek version of it.
verity (n.): late 14c., from Anglo-French and Old French verite "truth, sincerity, loyalty" (12c.), from Latin veritatem (nominative veritas) "truth, truthfulness," from verus "true" (see very). Modern French vérité, literally "truth," was borrowed into English 1966 as a term for naturalism or realism in film, etc.
vermeil (adj.): "bright-red," late 14c., from Anglo-French and Old French vermail, vermeil "bright-red, scarlet, crimson" (11c. in Old French), from Late Latin vermiculus "a little worm," specifically, the cochineal insect from which crimson dyes were obtained (compare kermes), in classical Latin, "larva of an insect, grub, maggot," diminutive of vermis "worm" (see worm (n.)). As a noun in English from 1590s.
vermicelli (n.): kind of pasta, 1660s, literally "little worms," from Italian vermicelli, plural of vermicello, diminutive of verme, accusative singular of Latin vermis "worm" (see worm (n.)). So called for resemblance.
vermicular (adj.): 1650s, from Medieval Latin vermicularis, from Latin vermiculus "little worm," from vermis (see worm (n.)).
vermiculation (n.): 1610s, from Latin vermiculationem (nominative vermiculatio), noun of action from vermiculari, from vermiculus (see vermicular).
vermiculite (n.): micaceous mineral, 1814, from Latin vermiculari (from vermiculus, diminutive of vermis; see worm (n.)) + -ite. So called from its reaction when heated.
vermiform (adj.): "worm-shaped, worm-like in form," 1730, from Modern Latin vermiformis, from Latin vermis "worm" (see worm (n.)) + forma "form" (see form (n.)).
vermilion (n.): late 13c., "cinnabar, red dye," from Anglo-French and Old French vermeillon "red lead, cinnabar, (cosmetic) rouge" (12c.), from vermeil (see vermeil). As an adjective, from 1580s.
vermin (n.): c. 1300, "noxious animals," from Anglo-French and Old French vermin "moth, worm, mite," in plural "troublesome creatures" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *verminum "vermin," possibly including bothersome insects, collective noun formed from Latin vermis "worm" (see worm (n.)). Extended to "low, obnoxious people" by 1560s.
verminous (adj.): 1610s, from vermin + -ous or else from Latin verminosus.
Vermont: U.S. state, 1777, based on French words for "Green Mountain," but perhaps was formed by one with limited knowledge of French, where the correct form would be Mont Vert (as in the village of Pont-de-Montvert). Related: Vermonter.
vermouth (n.): white wine flavored with aromatic herbs, 1806, from French vermouth (18c.), from German Wermuth "wormwood," from Middle High German wermuot, from Old High German wermuota (see wormwood), name of the aromatic herb formerly used in the flavoring of the liqueur.
vernacular (adj.): c. 1600, "native to a country," from Latin vernaculus "domestic, native, indigenous; pertaining to home-born slaves," from verna "home-born slave, native," a word of Etruscan origin. Used in English in the sense of Latin vernacula vocabula, in reference to language. As a noun, "native speech or language of a place," from 1706.
For human speech is after all a democratic product, the creation, not of scholars and grammarians, but of unschooled and unlettered people. Scholars and men of education may cultivate and enrich it, and make it flower into the beauty of a literary language; but its rarest blooms are grafted on a wild stock, and its roots are deep-buried in the common soil. [Logan Pearsall Smith, "Words and Idioms," 1925]
vernal (adj.): "pertaining to spring," 1530s, from Late Latin vernalis "of the spring," from vernus "of spring," from Latin ver "the spring, spring-time," from PIE *wesr- "the spring" (source also of Old Norse var "spring," Greek ear, Armenian gar-un, Sanskrit vasantah, Persian bahar, Old Church Slavonic vesna "spring," Lithuanian vasara "summer").
vernier (n.): device for making precise measurements, 1766, from name of inventor, French mathematician Pierre Vernier (1580-1637), who described it in 1631.
Verona: city in northern Italy, Celtic Vernomago, from verno "elder tree" + mago "field, place." Related: Veronese.
Veronica: fem. proper name, French Veronique, a variant of Greek Berenike (see Berenice). The popular "Saint Veronica" (not in the Roman Martyrology) traditionally was a pious woman who wiped the face of Christ when he fell carrying the cross to Calvary. The image of his face remained on the cloth, and the "veil of Veronica" has been preserved in Rome from the 8c. Her popularity rose with the propagation of the Stations of the Cross, and this connection led to the folk-etymology derivation of the name from Latin vera "true" + Greek eikon "image." Some also identified her with the woman with the issue of blood, cured by Christ, as in the East this woman was identified from an early date by the name Berenike. Hence vernicle (mid-14c.) "picture of the face of Christ," from Old French veronicle, variant of veronique "St. Veronica's cloth."
verruca (n.): 1560s, from Latin verruca "a wart," also "a fault, failing" (see vary). Related: Verrucose.
vers libre (n.): 1902, from French, literally "free verse," lines of varying length.
I remarked some years ago, in speaking of vers libre, that 'no vers is libre for the man who wants to do a good job.' The term, which fifty years ago had an exact meaning in relation to the French alexandrine, now means too much to mean anything at all. [T.S. Eliot, introduction to "Selected Poems of Ezra Pound," 1928]
Versailles: place outside Paris, of uncertain origin; perhaps from Latin versus "slope." Louis XIII built a hunting lodge there; made into a palace 17c. by Louis XIV.
versant (adj.): 1640s, "busy" (with something), from Latin versantem (nominative versans), present participle of versare (see versus). Meaning "familiar, acquainted" is from 1787.
versatile (adj.): c. 1600, "inconstant," from Latin versatilis "turning, revolving, moving, capable of turning with ease to varied subjects or tasks," from past participle stem of versare "keep turning, be engaged in something, turn over in the mind," frequentative of vertere "to turn" (see versus). Meaning "able to do many things well" is from 1762 in English.
versatility (n.): 1755, "fickleness," from versatile + -ity. As "ability to do many things well" from 1798.
verse (n.): late Old English (replacing Old English fers, an early West Germanic borrowing directly from Latin), "line or section of a psalm or canticle," later "line of poetry" (late 14c.), from Anglo-French and Old French vers "line of verse; rhyme, song," from Latin versus "a line, row, line of verse, line of writing," from PIE root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). The metaphor is of plowing, of "turning" from one line to another (vertere = "to turn") as a plowman does.
Verse was invented as an aid to memory. Later it was preserved to increase pleasure by the spectacle of difficulty overcome. That it should still survive in dramatic art is a vestige of barbarism. [Stendhal "de l'Amour," 1822]
The English New Testament first was divided fully into verses in the Geneva version (1550s). Meaning "metrical composition" is recorded from c. 1300; as the non-repeating part of a modern song (between repetitions of the chorus) by 1918.
The Negroes say that in form their old songs usually consist in what they call "Chorus and Verses." The "chorus," a melodic refrain sung by all, opens the song; then follows a verse sung as a solo, in free recitative; the chorus is repeated; then another verse; chorus again;--and so on until the chorus, sung for the last time, ends the song. [Natalie Curtis-Burlin, "Negro Folk-Songs," 1918]
versed (adj.): "practiced, conversant, acquainted," c. 1600, from past participle of obsolete verse "to turn over" (a book, subject, etc.) in study or investigation, from Middle French verser "to turn, revolve" as in meditation (12c.), from Latin versare "be employed, busy oneself," literally "to turn to, turn often; think over" (see versus).
versification (n.): c. 1600, from Latin versificationem (nominative versificatio), noun of action from past participle stem of versificare (see versify).
versify (v.): late 14c., "compose verse, write poetry, make verses," from Old French versifier "turn into verse" (13c.), from Latin versificare "compose verse; put into verse," from versus "verse" (see verse) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Transitive sense of "put into verse" in English is from 1735. Related: Versified; versifying; versifier (mid-14c.).
version (n.): 1580s, "a translation," from Middle French version, from Medieval Latin versionem (nominative versio) "a turning, a translation," from past participle stem of Latin vertere "to turn, change, alter, translate" (see versus). Also with a Middle English sense of "destruction;" the meaning "particular form of a description" is first attested 1788.
verso (n.): "reverse, back, or other side of some object," especially a printed page or book, 1839, from Latin verso (folio), ablative singular neuter of versus, past participle of vertere "to turn" (see versus).
verst (n.): Russian unit of distance measure equal to about two-thirds of a mile, 1550s, from Russian versta, related to Old Church Slavonic vrusta "stadium," vruteti (Russian vertet) "to turn" (see versus).