verbiage
English
editEtymology
editFrom French verbiage. The English equivalent can possibly be analysed as verb (a word indicating an action) + -age.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editverbiage (countable and uncountable, plural verbiages)
- Overabundance of words.
- 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 39:
- A very garrulous person, he approached the counter in a fog of verbiage.
- The manner in which something is expressed in words.
- bureaucratic verbiage
- 1846, Margaret Thornley, The True End of Education and the Means Adapted to It:
- The comparison of coincidences in the verbiage of different languages, and affinity of etymological formation, are interesting subjects of philological investigation.
- 1947, George S. Patton, War as I Knew It:
- Use concise military verbiage.
Usage notes
editBecause of the pejorative connotation of the primary definition of verbiage it is preferred to use diction, phrasing, etc. to describe the manner in which something is expressed in words.
Translations
editoverabundance of words
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See also
editFrench
editEtymology
editFrom Middle French verbier + -age.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editverbiage m (countable and uncountable, plural verbiages)
Further reading
edit- “verbiage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Talking
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms suffixed with -age
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French uncountable nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns