verseverse

Verse comes from Middle English vers ‘a line in a poem’, from Latin versus ‘a line in writing’, from vertō ‘to turn around’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-¹‘to turn’reconstructed
2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō¹‘to turn’reconstructed
3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertō²‘to turn around’
4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEversus²‘a line in writing’
5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fers²‘verse’
6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vers²‘a line in a poem’
7. Englishearliest quotation a. 1587verse²

1. ¹ Wiktionary, Latin verto
2. ² Wiktionary, English verse
3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1587, Phillip Sidney [i.e., Philip Sidney]: “It is not rhyming and versing that maketh a…”.