verve
/vɜːv/
Etymology
Borrowed from French verve (“animation; caprice, whim; rapture; spirit; vigour; type of expression”), probably from Late Latin verva, a variant of Latin verba (“words; discourse; expressions; language”), the plural of verbum (“word”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- (“to say, speak”). Doublet of verb and word.
verve means enthusiasm, rapture, spirit, or vigour, especially of imagination such as that which animates an artist, musician, or writer, in composing or performing. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 80 out of 100.
Why this word is great
VERVE — [Noun] Enthusiasm, spirit, or vigor, especially the kind that animates artistic composition or performance. From the French verve ("animation, spirit, vigor"), probably from Late Latin verva, a variant of Latin verba ("words, discourse"), the plural of verbum ("word"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- ("to say, speak"). Unlike vigor, which implies a general physical force, or brio, which specifies the outward dash of a performance, verve is the generative, internal electricity that precedes and propels creation. It is the compulsive scribble in a notebook's margin, the reckless syncopation that lifts a jazz standard, the palpable crackling energy in a rehearsal room just before the curtain rises—the vital friction where life meets form, generating not just heat, but the fleeting proof that creation, however briefly, can outpace decay.
noun
- Enthusiasm, rapture, spirit, or vigour, especially of imagination such as that which animates an artist, musician, or writer, in composing or performing.“His hands were strong and elegant; his experience of life evidently varied; his speech full of pith and verve; his manners forward, but perfectly presentable.”
- A particular skill in writing.“If he be above Virgil, and is reſolv'd to follow his own Verve (as the French call it,) the Proverb will fall heavily upon him; Who teaches himſelf, has a Fool for his Maſter.”