asperge

See also: aspergé and aspèrge

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈspɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dʒ

Etymology 1

Latin aspergō (compare aspersion from the same verb).

Verb

asperge (third-person singular simple present asperges, present participle asperging, simple past and past participle asperged)

1. (transitive) To sprinkle.
   • 1877, John David Chambers, Divine worship in England in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries contrasted and adapted to that of the nineteenth:

     First let him go up to the principal Altar and asperge it on every side.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

asperge (plural asperges)

1. An aspergillum.

Anagrams

• preages, presage, sperage

Dutch

Asparagus officinalis

witte asperges op een bord

Alternative forms

• aspergie (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French asperge, from Medieval Latin asparagus, sparagus, from Ancient Greek ἀσπάραγος (aspáragos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑsˈpɛr.ʒə/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: as‧per‧ge
• Rhymes: -ɛrʒə

Noun

asperge f (plural asperges, diminutive aspergetje n)

1. asparagus, Asparagus officinalis (plant, vegetable)

Derived terms

• aspergesteker

Descendants

• Afrikaans: aspersie
• → Papiamentu: asperge

Further reading

• asperge on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

French

Etymology

Inherited from Latin asparagus, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀσπάραγος (aspáragos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /as.pɛʁʒ/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

asperge f (plural asperges)

1. asparagus (any of various perennial plants of the genus Asparagus having leaflike stems, scalelike leaves, and small flowers)
2. asparagus (the young shoots of Asparagus officinalis eaten as a vegetable)
3. (informal) beanpole (tall, thin person)
   • 1926, Marcel Aymé, Brûlebois, Éditions Gallimard, chap. II, 1975 ed., p. 25

     — Tiens, disait-il à Charles, entre le rôti et la salade, ne me parle pas de tes asperges d’aujourd’hui, ça n’a ni cul, ni corsage. Quand j’étais jeune homme, ah! oui, il y avait du plaisir. Tu pouvais mettre les mains, tu tenais quelque chose.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   Synonym: échalas

Further reading

• “asperge”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• présage

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈspɛr.d͡ʒe/
• Rhymes: -ɛrdʒe
• Hyphenation: a‧spèr‧ge

Verb

asperge

1. third-person singular present indicative of aspergere

Anagrams

• esparge

Latin

Verb

asperge

1. second-person singular present active imperative of aspergō