Nearby Words

verve

[vurv] Example Sentences Origin

verve

[vurv]
noun
1.
enthusiasm or vigor, as in literary or artistic work; spirit: Her latest novel lacks verve.
2.
vivaciousness; liveliness; animation: I like a teacher with plenty of verve.
3.
Archaic. talent.

Origin:
1690–1700; < French: enthusiasm, whim, chatter, apparently < Latin verba words, talk, plural (taken in VL as feminine singular) of verbum word; see verb
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Verve is a GRE word you need to know.
So is drone. Does it mean:
male of the honeybee and other bees, stingless and making no honey
pile or heap of wood or other combustible material
Example Sentences
  • Shana had a verve for life that was readily apparent to all who knew her.
  • Posner may be wrong-headed, but he has bite and verve.
  • Phages are viruses that attack bacteria with the same verve that some other viral species attack people.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
verve (vɜːv)
 
n
1.  great vitality, enthusiasm, and liveliness; sparkle
2.  a rare word for talent
 
[C17: from Old French: garrulity, from Latin verba words, chatter]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

verve
1697, "special talent in writing," from Fr. verve "enthusiasm" (especially pertaining to the arts), in O.Fr. "caprice, odd humor, proverb" (12c.), probably from Gallo-Romance *verva, from L. verba "(whimsical) words," plural of verbum "word" (see verb). Meaning "mental vigor" is first recorded 1803.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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