Probably from Late Latin verva, a variant of Latin verba (“words; discourse; expressions; language”), the plural of verbum (“word”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wérdʰh₁om (“that which is said; utterance, word”), from the verb *wérdʰh₁eti (“to speak, say”), derived from the root *werh₁- + *-dʰh₁eti. Doublet of verbe.