'verse-ify' originates from English, specifically the element 'verse' (from Latin 'versus') combined with the verbalizing suffix '-ify' (from Latin-derived '-ficare'/'-fy'), where 'verse' meant 'a line, a turning' and '-ify' meant 'to make'.

'verse' came into English via Old French 'vers' from Latin 'versus' (originally meaning 'a turning, a line'); the productive suffix '-ify' traces to Latin '-ficare' (from 'facere', 'to make') and entered English via French/Latin verbal formations. The compound-like modern formation 'verse-ify' follows English patterns of creating verbs by attaching '-ify' to a root.

Initially, 'verse' referred to 'a line' or 'a turning' (from Latin), and over time it came to denote poetic lines; adding '-ify' yields 'to make into verse', a meaning that aligns directly with modern usage.