Where does “verses” come from?

Verses comes from Latin versus, the past participle of vertere meaning "to turn," which derives from Proto-Indo-European wer-.

verses (English): plural of verse; Third-person singular simple...

Definitions

  1. plural of verse; Third-person singular simple...

Ancestry of “verses”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishverseA poetic form with regular meter and a fixed...
2Middle EnglishversA line or passage of a text or work; A larger...
3Old Englishfersverse; sentence, title
4Latinversusturned, changed, having been turned; towards,...
5Latinvertōto turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to turn about, turn around, revolve
6Proto-Italicwertōto turn
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwert-to turn, to rotate
8Proto-Indo-Europeanwer-to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wer-
verses — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer