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{{Short description|Wooden rod, symbol of office}}
{{For|the graphics accelerator|S3 ViRGE}}
{{no footnotes|date=November 2016}}
[[Image:Virge.jpg|thumb|Traditional virge with brass ball and small cross on top]]
[[Aga inför publik|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 (rod)|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 the ceremonial staff of the Anglican and Episcopal lay church officers known as [[verger]]s (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 [[chorister]]s.

==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]]