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verso

[vur-soh]
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noun, plural ver·sos. Printing.
  1. a left-hand page of an open book or manuscript (opposed to recto).
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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.
  1. with thumbs turned downward: the sign made by spectators calling for the death of a defeated gladiator in the ancient Roman circus.
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folio verso

[foh-lee-oh vur-soh; Latin foh-lee-oh wer-soh]
noun
  1. the back of the page; verso (opposed to folio recto).
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Origin of folio verso

From Latin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

reversalleafsurfacesignaturesidefolioversorectoabout-faceantithesisbackundersideregressioninversebottomflip-flopretrogressionreversionconversecontradictory

Examples from the Web for verso

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • 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 Title page and Verso are in error in stating that the pages run 275 to 306.

British Dictionary definitions for verso

verso

noun plural -sos
    1. the back of a sheet of printed paper
    2. Also called: reversothe left-hand pages of a book, bearing the even numbersCompare recto
  2. the side of a coin opposite to the obverse; reverse
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Word Origin

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

n.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper