Virgin
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ÉœË(r)dʒɪn
Full definition of virgin
Noun
virgin
(plural virgins)- A person who has never had sexual intercourse, or sometimes, one who has never engaged in any sexual activity at all.
- (informal) One who has never used or experienced a specified thing.I've never eaten tofu before – you could say I'm a tofu virgin.
- Any of several species of gossamer-winged butterflies of the family Lycaenidae.
- A female insect producing eggs from which young are hatched, though there has been no fecundation by a male; a parthenogenetic insect.
Synonyms
- (person who has never had sexual intercourse) maiden (dated; used of a woman only), unicorn bait slang, jocular, virgo intacta (medical term; used of a woman only), vestal
Adjective
virgin
- In a state of virginity; chaste, not having had sexual intercourse.
- unknown date MiltonInnocence and virgin modesty ...
That would be wooed, and unsought be won. - 1913, DH Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin 2006, p. 294:He was now about twenty-three years old, and, though still virgin, the sex instinct that Miriam had over refined for so long now grew particularly strong.
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 314:Helvidius ... took the plain meaning of scripture to say that Jesus patently had brothers and sisters, so therefore his mother, Mary, had enjoyed a normal family life rather than remaining perpetually virgin.
- Of a physical object, untouched.
- unknown date Shakespearethe white cold virgin snow upon my heart
- Not yet cultivated, explored, or exploited by humans or humans of certain civilizations.virgin prairie, a virgin ecosystem, virgin forestThe virgin lands of the Americas were awaiting the Europeans.
- Of olive oil, obtained by mechanical means, so that the oil is not altered.
- Of mixed drinks, not containing alcohol.a virgin daiquiri