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This inquiry did not start with versus, but traverse and the various permutations from the root, such as converse, inverse, etc. But this is the unending fascination with word detecting. It is a path in the woods into which you might wander and then end on a freeway. I discovered that the PIE root was "wer" to turn or bend, so that versus is to turn against and traverse (transverse) is to turn across, etc. But look at the sundry words produced in the IE languages: Russian, Greek, German..... this is a root rich with offspring.

I've noted for several years, especially in legal terminology, but also in sports, that V is substituted for versus, not only in writing but also in speech.