verve

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verve

/vɜːv/ UK
/vəːv/ British, Southern, Standard
/vɛɾv/ Scotland, UK
/vøːv/ UK, Wales
/veːv/ UK
/vɛːv/ UK
/vɝv/ Canada, US
/vɜːv/ Australia
/vøːv/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)v

Where it comes from

Borrowed from French verve (“animation; caprice, whim; rapture; spirit; vigour; type of expression”), probably from Late Latin verva, a variant of Latin verba (“words; discourse; expressions; language”), the plural of verbum (“word”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- (“to say, speak”). Doublet of verb and word.

noun

uncountable Enthusiasm, rapture, spirit, or vigour, especially of imagination such as that which animates an artist, musician, or writer, in composing or performing. His hands were strong and elegant; his experience of life evidently varied; his speech full of pith and verve; his manners forward, but perfectly presentable.
Similar: brio, élan, liveliness, moxie, panache, vivacity, dash, action, ardor, alacrity, celerity, energy
obsolete, uncountable A particular skill in writing. If he be above Virgil, and is reſolv'd to follow his own Verve (as the French call it,) the Proverb will fall heavily upon him; Who teaches himſelf, has a Fool for his Maſter.

Translations

Every language

noun enthusiasm, rapture, spirit, or vigour, especially of imagination such as that which animates an artist musician, or writer, in composing or performing — see al

Español	denuedo, energía, fogosidad, nervio, verba
日本語	エスプリ esupuri
Français	verve
Deutsch	Verve, Begeisterung, Enthusiasmus, Schwung
Italiano	verve, animatezza, brio, estro, vivacità
Ελληνικά	οίστρος oístros, μπρίο brío, νεύρο névro, ζωντάνια zontánia
Română	vervă
Русский	воодушевление vooduševlenije, вдохновение vdoxnovenije

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MLA

"verve." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/verve. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

verve. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/verve

Chicago

"verve." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/verve.

BibTeX

@misc{verve_2026,
  title = {verve},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/verve},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}