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verbiage

[vur-bee-ij]
noun
  1. overabundance or superfluity of words, as in writing or speech; wordiness; verbosity.
  2. manner or style of expressing something in words; wording: a manual of official verbiage.
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Origin of verbiage

1715–25; < French, equivalent to Middle French verbi(er) to gabble + -age -age
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for verbage

Historical Examples

  • It's the "House that Jack built," only I will change the verbage a little.

    Wit, Humor, Reason, Rhetoric, Prose, Poetry and Story Woven into Eight Popular Lectures

    George W. Bain

British Dictionary definitions for verbage

verbiage

noun
  1. the excessive and often meaningless use of words; verbosity
  2. rare diction; wording
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Word Origin

C18: from French, from Old French verbier to chatter, from verbe word, from Latin verbum
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for verbage

n.

variant of verbiage (q.v.).

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verbiage

n.

1721, from French verbiage "wordiness" (17c.), from Middle French verbier "to chatter," from Old French verbe "word," from Latin verbum "word" (see verb).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper