virginity

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English virginite,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman virginité, in Middle French also virginité,^[5][6] from Latin virginitās (“maidenhood, virginity”),^[5][6][7][4] formed from virgō (“maiden”), the source of virgin, and the suffix -itās.^[5][4][3] The French word is recorded from the 9th century, as virginitet,^[5] and the Anglo-Norman form from the early 13th century.^[8] In Latin the noun meant the condition of a girl of marriageable age or of one without sexual experience, and later Christian Latin used it also for purity and for the Virgin Mary.^[5] Compare verginità and virginidad.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chastity viewed as a spiritual virtue, the state of remaining celibate: the OED's first quotation is from about 1330, in a poem on the Assumption of the Virgin in the Auchinleck manuscript.^[5] Etymonline dates the word to about 1300, with the sense "state of being a virgin".^[6]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense, the state of having had no sexual experience, is recorded from Gower (before 1393), often in phrases such as lose one's virginity;^[5][7] the Middle English Dictionary describes it as the normal condition of an unmarried girl or young woman.^[2] Etymonline notes that by the early 14th century it also meant deliberate abstinence, sometimes extended to freedom from sexual thoughts.^[6] From 1610 the word was used figuratively for the state of being pure, untouched or new,^[5][7] and since 1847 for innocence or lack of experience in some field.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it plainly as maidenhead.^[9] The phrase the flower of virginity, for a person seen as a perfect example of chastity, goes back to Hoccleve (about 1430).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – chastity as a virtue, celibacy.^[5]
• before 1393 – the state of being a virgin.^[5]
• c. 1430 – the flower of virginity.^[5]
• 1610 – figurative, purity, newness.^[5]
• 1847 – innocence or inexperience in some field.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The state of being a virgin; having had no sexual experience: He lost his virginity at nineteen.^[10][4][5]
2. Chastity or celibacy, as a way of life.^[4][5]
3. The state of being fresh, new or untouched.^[10][4][5]

Related words

• virgin
• virginal
• Virginia

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins