The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
VIRGATE
Etymology 1
Noun
virgate (plural virgates)
(historical) The yardland: an obsolete English land measure usually comprising 1/4 of a hide and notionally equal to 30 acres.
Usage notes
The hide was originally intended to represent the amount of land farmed by a single household but was primarily connected to obligations owed to the Saxon and Norman kings and thus varied greatly from place to place. Around the time of the Domesday Book under the Normans, the hide was usually but not always the land expected to produce ÂŁ1 (1 Tower pound of sterling silver) in income over the year, meaning the yardland was expected to produce five shillings (3 Tower ounces of sterling silver). In fact, the yardland became associated with its own obligations and thus also varied, in some places being reckoned as 1/6 of a hide rather than 1/4. Virgate is a later retronym used to distinguish the unit from the yard of 3 feet.
Synonyms
• yardland, yard, yard of land
Hypernyms
• (400 virgates) See hundred
• (4 virgates) See carucate
Hyponyms
• (1/2 virgate & for Scottish divisions): See oxgang
• (1/4 virgate): See nook
• (1/8 virgate): See fardel
• (various & for further subdivisions): See acre
Etymology 2
Adjective
virgate (comparative more virgate, superlative most virgate)
Rod-shaped: straight, long, and thin, (particularly botany) the habitus of plants with straight, erect branches.
(mycology) Finely striped, often with dark fibers.
Anagrams
• vitrage
Source: Wiktionary
Vir"gate, a. Etym: [L. virgatus made of twigs, fr. virga a twig, rod. See Verge a rod.] (Bot.)
Definition: Having the form of a straight rod; wand-shaped; straight and slender.
Vir"gate, n. Etym: [LL. virgata, virgata terrae, so much land as virga terrae, a land measure, contains, fr. L. virga a twig, rod.]
Definition: A yardland, or measure of land varying from fifteen to forty acres. [Obs.] T. Warton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
23 February 2025
BARGAIN
(noun) an advantageous purchase; “she got a bargain at the auction”; “the stock was a real buy at that price”
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