Etymologically
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virgineus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɪrˈɡɪ.ne.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [virˈd͡ʒiː.ne.us][1]

Forms

virgineus (feminine virginea, neuter virgineum); first/second-declension adjective[1] The spelling virginius is also found.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin virgō (“girl, maiden”) + -eus.[2][1] The origin of virgō is unclear: Walde and Hofmann took it as made from virga (“twig, rod”), and a proposed compound “young woman” is rejected by de Vaan on formal and semantic grounds.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius,[3] who has the fillet tied round Iphigenia's “maiden locks”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means belonging to or typical of a girl of marriageable age, and of places haunted by such girls, nymphs or Muses.[2] Lewis & Short note that it is the poets' word for virginālis.[4] From the state of virginity it is used of virgin goddesses, as Horace's Orion “tamed by the virgin's arrow” of Diana, and of virgin soil in Columella.[2] It also refers to the constellation Virgo in Manilius and to the aqueduct Aqua Virgo in Ovid.[2]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of Iphigenia's maiden locks.[2][3][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of loosening the virgin's girdle.[2][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of Diana's arrow.[2][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of virgin soil, and Manilius of the constellation Virgo.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a girl or maiden, maidenly; of places, haunted by nymphs or Muses.[2][4][1]
  2. Virgin; of or proper to a virgin or a virgin goddess; of soil, unworked.[2][4][1]
  3. Of the constellation Virgo.[2]
  4. Of the aqueduct Aqua Virgo at Rome.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de