virago

Forms

virāgō f (genitive virāginis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vir (“man”) + -āgō,^[2][1][3] while Lewis & Short and Georges derive it from virgō (“maiden”).^[4][5] De Vaan notes that nouns in ⟨-āgō⟩ are usually built on nouns or verbs with ⟨-ā-⟩, so Leumann suggests a base ⟨vira⟩ “woman”, a word recorded in Paulus' epitome of Festus;^[3] Walde and Hofmann wondered whether it was formed after imāgō (“image”), with the sense “man-like”.^[3]

Vir goes back to Proto-Italic *wiro- and Proto-Indo-European *uiH-ró- (“man, young man, warrior”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus,^[3][6] where in the Mercator a character promises to buy a sturdy maid (ancillam virāginem) who will grind, cook and finish the day's spinning.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Ennius applies it to a goddess, whom the OLD takes to be perhaps Discordia and Lewis & Short Minerva.^[2][4] In poetry it became a word for a warlike or heroic woman: Virgil calls Juturna virāgō, Ovid Pallas Athene, Seneca Diana and Polyxena, and Statius uses it too; inscriptions apply it to Diana.^[2][4] Lactantius uses it of an Amazon.^[4][7]

In Christian Latin the Vulgate explains Eve's name in Genesis as virāgō, “because she was taken out of man”,^[4][8] and Arnobius and Paulinus of Nola use it for a young girl or virgin.^[7] Medieval writers in Britain used it both of a woman of masculine temperament, as Aldhelm of Circe, and, after Genesis, simply of a woman.^[8] English borrowed it in the late 14th century for a man-like or heroic woman.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a strong woman.^[2][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius applies it to a goddess.^[2][4][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil calls Juturna virāgō.^[2][6]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of an Amazon.^[4][6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of Eve.^[4][6]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of Circe.^[8][6]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as virago.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A physically strong woman.^[2][4]
2. A warlike or heroic woman, a heroine; especially of goddesses.^[2][4][5]
3. An Amazon.^[7]
4. (Late Latin) A young girl, a virgin.^[7]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A woman, after Eve in Genesis.^[10][8]
6. (Medieval Latin) A woman of masculine temperament.^[8]

Related words

• vir
• virīlis
• virtūs

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts it with virgō, an unmarried woman of any age, and puella, a young woman married or not: virāgō is a masculine, strong, heroic young woman.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper