Etymologically
Log in

virginalis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:07. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɪr.ɡɪˈnaː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [vir.d͡ʒiˈnaː.lis][1]

Forms

virginālis (neuter virgināle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin virgō (“girl, maiden”) + -ālis.[2][1][3] The origin of virgō is unclear: Walde and Hofmann see it as an individuation of virga (“twig, rod”), while de Vaan rejects Ledo-Lemos' compound meaning “young woman” as unacceptable in form and sense.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It occurs from Plautus on.[3][4] In the Rudens it appears in fēlēs virginālis, a “cat for maidens”, that is, a snatcher of girls.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant belonging to or befitting a girl of marriageable age:[2] Cicero speaks of a girl's dress and of maidenly modesty,[6][5] and a poet he quotes of a girl's weeping.[5] Later authors use it of beauty in Gellius and of chastity in Augustine.[6][5]

As a noun, virgināle (also shortened to virginal) meant the female genitals, in Phaedrus, Solinus, Apuleius and Prudentius.[5] Christian writers used it for what is virginal, pure and untouched.[7]

English took virginal “of a virgin” in the early 15th century, from Old French or directly from Latin.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses fēlēs virginālis of a snatcher of girls.[5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of girls' dress and maidenly modesty.[6][4]
  • c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses the neuter virgināle as a noun.[5][4]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a girl's beauty.[6][4]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of chastity.[5][4]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as virginal.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or befitting a girl of marriageable age, maidenly, virginal.[2][6]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Pure, untouched, unspotted.[7]

Noun

  1. virgināle (or virginal): the female genitals.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com