Chapter and verse

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Meaning

Precise supporting authority or full, exact details about a claim or event. Can mean exact source references or, more loosely, a complete detailed account. Regional use: British biblical and scholarly usage; now international English.

Origin

Bible chapters were old, but numbered verses entered printed New Testaments in the mid-sixteenth century and the Geneva Bible of 1560 made precise English reference practical. 'Chapter and verse' is recorded in the 1620s for exact scriptural location, then broadened to any authoritative citation and finally to exhaustive detail. The idiom depends on reference technology as much as on biblical language.

Research Sources

  1. Chapter Online Etymology Dictionary
  2. Where Do Verse and Chapter Numbers in the Bible Come From? Bible Gateway

Variants

  • Give chapter and verse
  • Cite chapter and verse
  • Know chapter and verse

Usage Examples

  • The inspector gave chapter and verse for every alleged breach.
  • Ask Mira; she knows chapter and verse about the negotiations.
  • The report names the problem but never supplies chapter and verse.

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