An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Vers

by Friedrich Kluge

Vers, masculine, ‘verse, couplet,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German vërs, fërs, masculine and neuter, which was adopted in the Old High German period (as early as the 9th century) from Latin versus, perhaps contemporaneously with Schule and Meister. Compare Käfig, Brief, and Vesper for the representation of Latin v by High German f (compare Anglo-Saxon fers, and Dutch vers).