• Virgin

    Pronunciation

    • Rhymes: -ɜː(r)dʒɪn

    Origin

    From Old French virgine, from Latin virginem (nominative: virgo).

    Full definition of virgin

    Noun

    virgin

    (plural virgins)
    1. A person who has never had sexual intercourse, or sometimes, one who has never engaged in any sexual activity at all.
    2. (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.
    3. Any of several species of gossamer-winged butterflies of the family Lycaenidae.
    4. A female insect producing eggs from which young are hatched, though there has been no fecundation by a male; a parthenogenetic insect.

    Synonyms

    Adjective

    virgin

    1. 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.
    2. Of a physical object, untouched.
      • unknown date Shakespearethe white cold virgin snow upon my heart
    3. 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.
    4. Of olive oil, obtained by mechanical means, so that the oil is not altered.
    5. Of mixed drinks, not containing alcohol.a virgin daiquiri

    Synonyms

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