asperge

asperge

See also: aspergé and aspèrge

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əˈspɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒ/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dʒ

Etymology 1

From 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

Clipping of aspergillum.

Noun

asperge (plural asperges)

  1. An aspergillum.

Anagrams

Dutch

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

    Descendants

    • Afrikaans: aspersie
    • Papiamentu: asperge

    Further reading

    French

    Etymology

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

    Pronunciation

    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

    Anagrams

    Italian

    Pronunciation

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

    Verb

    asperge

    1. third-person singular present indicative of aspergere

    Anagrams

    Latin

    Verb

    asperge

    1. second-person singular present active imperative of aspergō