sb. Forms: α. 4–5 verious, 5 veryous, -yose, -ius(e, -iuys, jusse, -iowce (vere jouse), 6 werius, verioyce, -juce (verdjuice), 6–7 veriuice, -iuce, -iuyce, 7 verjuyce, -juce, -jus, 7– verjuice. β. 4 vergws, 5 wergoys, 6 vergus, -uys; 4 vergieux, 4–6 -eous, 6 -ews, -eus, 5 vergyous, 6 -ious, -yus, -ius (4 verdius, 5 vertious). γ. 5 vergys, 5–7 vergis, 6–7 verges, 6 werges, vergesse, -i(e)sse, 7 verdges; 6 warges, 6–7, 9 dial. varges, 7, 9 dial. vargis. [a. OF. vertjus, verjus, vergus, etc. (mod.F. verjus), f. vert green, unripe + jus JUICE.]
1. The acid juice of green or unripe grapes, crabapples, or other sour fruit, expressed and formed into a liquor; formerly much used in cooking, as a condiment, or for medicinal purposes. Also in comparisons as, as sour (bitter, tart, etc.) as verjuice.
α. 1302–3. Ely Sacr. Rolls (1907), II. 18. Pro j barillo ad verious.
14[?]. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 619. Viridis succus, veriuys.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 508/2. Veriowce, sawce, agresta.
1450–80. trans. Secreta Secret., 33. Make him drynke of verious and watir.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., XII. 236. A calf lyuer skorde with the veryose; Good sawse. This is a restorete To make a good appete.
1534. in Peacock, Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866), 187. A brake to make verioyce with.
1544. Phaër, Regim. Lyfe (1560), B iv b. The juce of Purcelane, of Plantaine, and verjuce of grape, or crabbes.
1594. Plat, Jewell-ho., III. 71. Crabs after the veriuice is expressed from them.
1626. Middleton, Women Beware Wom., III. iii. Having a crabbed face of her own, she’ll eat the less verjuice with her mutton.
1657. Trapp, Comm. Ezra vi. 13. II. 22. Their obedience was wrung out of them, as verjuice is out of a crab.
1748. Hartley, Observ. Man, I. ii. 124. The good Effects of Vinegar, Verjuice, Spirits of Wine, in Sprains.
1799. G. Smith, Laboratory (ed. 6), I. 343. Beat pumice stones to an impalpable powder, and mix up with verjuice.
1853. Royle, Mat. Med. (ed. 2), 358. When unripe the fruit is remarkable for the harsh acidity of its juice, which is then called verjuice.
1881. Harper’s Mag., LXIII. 266. To distort the face as if one were quaffing verjuice.
fig. 1616. R. C., Times’ Whistle (1871), 80. They must have veriuice that will squeese such crabbes.
1624. Middleton, Game at Chess, V. iii. ’S foot this Fat Bishop hath … so squelch’d and squeez’d me, I’ve no verjuice left in me.
1662. Hibbert, Body Divinity, I. 269. Take heed of matching with one of the daughters of Heth; he that graffs into a crab-stock, is like never to want verjuice.
β. 1349–50. Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees), 551. In xvj lag. de vergeous.
1392. Earl Derby’s Exped. (Camden), 155. Et pro viij galonibus vergws.
a. 1400. Leg. Holy Rood, viii. 175. Ȝit Moyses in Rule haþ rad, We schulde ete vr lomb in sour vergeous.
c. 1430. Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, II. cxlvii. (1869), 134. I serue of vinegre and of vergeous, and of greynes þat ben soure.
c. 1440. Douce MS. 55, fol. 7. Then take … a quantite of vertious & saffron & salte & cast ther to.
1463. Bury Wills (Camden), 23. A barell with wergoys, and a botel for wynne.
1513. W. de Worde, Bk. Keruynge, in Babees Bk., 278. It ought for to be eten with grene garlyke, or with sorell, or tender vynes, or vergyus in somer season.
1558. Warde, trans. Alexis’ Secr. (1568), 65 b. Boile it in iii glasses full of good vergeous or whyte wyne.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. (1586), 57. Some adde thereunto Vergius, or the iuyce of soure Grapes, to make the taste more tarte.
γ. 1412–3. Abingdon Acc. (Camden), 75. De vuis … pro vergis inde fact’.
c. 1518. Skelton, Magnyf., 1779. Somtyme, parde, I must vse largesse. Ye, mary, somtyme in a messe of vergesse.
1527. Luton Trin. Guild (1906), 186. Payd … for galone of wargis.
1557. Lanc. & Chesh. Wills (Chetham Soc., 1884), 64. ij barrells to keepe varges in.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 53. Be sure of vergis … so good for the kitchen.
1610. Markham, Masterp., I. lxxi. 148. You shall then onely giue it a pint of strong verdges to drinke.
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Begger, Wks. I. 97/2. And for a Sauce he seldom is at Charges, For euery Crabtree, doth affoord him Vergis.
1639. O. Wood, Alph. Bk. Secrets, 102. Make a posset of Varges or Vinigar and Milke, bath the joynt very hot therewith.
1837. Hood, Ode to Dr. Hahnemann, 38. A drop of ‘varges.’
1854. Miss Baker, Northampt. Gloss., 375. As sour as vargis.
1904. E. Step, Wayside & Woodland Trees, 103. Cyder is made from the rotting Crabs; also a kind of vinegar called verjuice or vargis.
† b. In fig. phrases to crowd, crush, squeeze to verjuice. Obs.
1605. Tryall Chev., II. i., in Bullen, Old Pl. (1884), III. 289. And that sowre crab do but leere at thee I shall squeeze him to Vargis.
1691. Fletcher, Isl. Princess, III. i. They love a man that crushes ’em to verjuce. Ibid. (a. 1625), Wife for Month, II. i. They have crowded me to Vergis, I sweat like a butter-box.
2. In fig. use, with reference to the characteristic acidity or sourness of verjuice.
1598. E. Guilpin, Skial. (1878), 39. Oh how the varges from his blacke pen wrung, Would sauce the Idiome of the English tongue. Ibid., 65. To mittigate The sharp tart veriuice of his snap-haunce hate.
1626. B. Jonson, Staple of N., V. i. Hang him, an austere grape, That has no iuice, but what is veriuice in him.
1685. Crowne, Sir C. Nice, I. The Devil of Envy suck’d it all out, and left verjuice in the roome.
1759. Mrs. Delany, in Life & Corr. (1862), 543. To be sure there must be an infinite deal of verjuice in her composition!
1791. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Rights of Kings, xviii. Wks. 1816, II. 209. The heart should be a medlar, not a crab; Milk, and not Verjuice, from its fount should flow.
1825. Scott, Betrothed, xxii. Raoul, glancing towards her a look of verjuice [etc.].
1833. T. Hook, Parson’s Dau., II. xi. Miss Budd, although she said nothing, looked vinegar and verjuice.
1873. Symonds, Grk. Poets, iv. 101. The temper of his proposed son-in-law was a mixture of gall, wormwood, vinegar, verjuice, vitriol and nitric acid.
3. attrib. or as adj. a. Simple attrib., as verjuice barrel, bottle, brake, house, sauce, tub, vessel.
1432. E. E. Wills (1882), 91. A vergyous barell.
c. 1450. Two Cookery Bks., 103. The sauce is vergyus sauce or sauce ginger.
1516–7. Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees), 106. Pro ostiis le Weriushouse.
1551–60. in Hall, Eliz. Soc. (1887), 150. A verguys tubbe.
1578. Knaresb. Wills (Surtees), I. 134. In the buttrie … a kitt, a vergious brake.
1588. Lanc. & Chesh. Wills (Chetham Soc., 1893), 150. ij kneadinge tubes, iij cheises, ij verges barrells.
1629. Inv. Househ. Goods, in Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc., III. II. 161. In the West Larder … 8 vergis vessells.
b. Passing into adj. in the sense of ‘bitter, sour, sour-looking,’ as verjuice countenance, face, wit.
1598. Marston, Sco. Villanie. To Iudiciall Perusers, I dare defend my plainenesse against the veriuice-face of the Crabbedst Satyrist that euer stuttered.
1613. Heywood, Brazen Age, II. iii. She scarce will let me kisse her, But shee makes vergisse faces.
1632. Brome, Court Beggar, II. i. Thou hast a verjuice wit.
1823. Scott, Peveril, vii. A verjuice countenance … is no such temptation.
1853. Hickie, trans. Aristoph. (1887), I. 12. You bear the basket prettily, with a verjuice face.
† c. Verjuice grape, one or other variety of grape suitable for the making of verjuice (cf. quot. 1725 and F. verjus a sour or green grape). Obs.
1648. Hexham, II. Verjuys-besien, Verjus or Sowre grapes.
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, I. xxv. The great red grapes, the muscadine, the verjuice grape.
1664. Evelyn, Kal. Hort., Sept., 74. The Verjuyce-grape excellent for sauce, &c.
1706. London & Wise, Retir’d Gard., I. xi. 52. Having planted your Trees, you ought … to set some Chasselas, or Verjuice Grapes, about your Squares.
1725. Fam. Dict., s.v., There are three sorts of Grapes to which they properly give the Name of Verjuice, viz. the Gouais, Farineus, and Bourdelas, otherwise le Grey; and ’tis from these three that they commonly press Verjuice.
Hence Verjuice v. trans., to embitter, make sour; Verjuiced ppl. a.
1836. W. H. Maxwell, Capt. Blake, xv. The maid was a verjuiced spinster.
1848. Lowell, Fable for Critics (1865), 217. His sermons with satire are plenteously verjuiced.
1892. W. G. Thorpe, Still Life Mid. Temple, 3. Sir John Key, where the inherent rhyme to ‘donkey’ verjuiced the baronetcy.
