verso

[vur-soh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR verso ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural ver·sos. Printing.

a left-hand page of an open book or manuscript (opposed to recto).

Origin of verso

1830–40; short for Latin in versō foliō on the turned leaf

pollice verso

[pohl-li-ke wer-soh; English pol-uh-see vur-soh]

adverb Latin.

with thumbs turned downward: the sign made by spectators calling for the death of a defeated gladiator in the ancient Roman circus.

folio verso

[foh-lee-oh vur-soh; Latin foh-lee-oh wer-soh]

noun

the back of the page; verso (opposed to folio recto).

Origin of folio verso

From Latin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for verso

reversal, leaf, surface, signature, side, folio, verso, recto, about-face, antithesis, back, underside, regression, inverse, bottom, flip-flop, retrogression, reversion, converse, contradictory

Examples from the Web for verso

Historical Examples of verso

The modern title page and verso have been relocated to the end of the text.
Chronicles of Border Warfare
Alexander Scott Withers
On verso of title a poem by Ioachim Egell, extolling Humelberg.
Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome
Apicius
A Table of Contents has been added below the verso to aid in navigation.
Mystery at Geneva
Rose Macaulay
A list of personae is given in the original on the verso of the title-leaf.
The Tragedy Of Caesar's Revenge
Anonymous
The Title page and Verso are in error in stating that the pages run 275 to 306.
Field Study of Kansas Ant-Eating Frog
Henry S. Fitch

British Dictionary definitions for verso

verso

noun plural -sos

the back of a sheet of printed paper
Also called: reversothe left-hand pages of a book, bearing the even numbersCompare recto

the side of a coin opposite to the obverse; reverse

Word Origin for verso

C19: from the New Latin phrase versō foliō the leaf having been turned, from Latin vertere to turn + folium a leaf

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 verso

1839, from Latin verso (folio), ablative singular neuter of versus, past participle of vertere "to turn" (see versus).