{{Short description|Wooden rod, symbol of office}} {{For|the graphics accelerator|S3 ViRGE}} {{no footnotes|date=November 2016}} thumb|Traditional virge with brass ball and small cross on top A '''virge''' or '''verge''' ({{etymology|la|virga}}) is a type of rod, made of wood.
==Etymology== Originally it was one or more branches (the French often use ''verges'', the plural of its equivalent, as the normal word for a rod, the rarer singular ''verge'' rather indicates a switch) used as an instrument for corporal punishment, or as a riding crop. It later became a symbol of civil office, used in ceremonies of swearing fealty (from which the legal term ''tenant by the verge'' is derived). Further deriving from this use is the sense of a measurement, and so boundary or border, of land, or generally a margin of space.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911 |inline=y |wstitle=Verge |volume=27 |page=1021}}</ref>
==Modern practice== In modern times it is best known as a '''verger's wand''', the ceremonial staff of the Anglican and Episcopal lay church officers known as vergers (or originally ''virger'' – the title derives from ''virge''), who originally used it as a "weapon" to make way for the ecclesiastical procession (compare the Catholic Swiss Guard), and occasionally to chastise unruly choristers.
==References== {{reflist|25em}}
==External links== * {{cite web |title=What is a virge? |series=FAQ |number=5 |website=vergers.org |publisher=Vergers Guild of the Episcopal Church |url=http://www.vergers.org/about/FAQ#5}}
Category:Corporal punishments Category:Christian religious objects