1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Verge

VERGE (Lat. virga, a rod), originally a staff denoting authority, whence (from the ceremony in swearing fealty to a lord) the sense of a measurement, and so boundary or border, of land, or generally a margin of space. In architecture, a verge is the edge of the tiling projecting over the gable of a roof; that on the horizontal portion being called “eaves.” The term “verge board,” generally now known as barge board, is the name given to the board under the verge of gables, sometimes moulded, and often very richly carved, perforated and cusped, and frequently having pendants and sometimes finials at the apex.