verbiage

[vur-bee-ij]

noun

overabundance or superfluity of words, as in writing or speech; wordiness; verbosity.

manner or style of expressing something in words; wording: a manual of official verbiage.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for verbage

Historical Examples of verbage

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

the excessive and often meaningless use of words; verbosity

rare diction; wording

Word Origin for verbiage

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

variant of verbiage (q.v.).

verbiage

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