| 释义 |
virgin, n. and a.|ˈvɜːdʒɪn|
Forms: α. 3, 5 uirgine, 3–7 virgine (6 wir-), 4, 6 virgyne (5 wir-), 4–5 vyrgyne (4 wyr-), 5 vyrgine. β. 4 uirgin, 4–6 virgyn (5 uirgyn, 6 wirgynne), 5–6 vyrgyn (6 wyr-), 5– virgin (5 wyr-, 6 wirgin). γ. 4 vergyne, 4–5 vergine (4 uer-), vergyn. δ. 5 vyrgene (wyr-), 5–6 virgen(e.
[a. AF. and OF. virgine, virgene, viergene, etc. (= It. vergine, Sp. virgen, Pg. virgem), ad. L. virginem, acc. of virgo maiden. OF. also had the reduced forms virge, vierge, mod.F. vierge.]
I.
1. Eccl. An unmarried or chaste maiden or woman, distinguished for piety or steadfastness in religion, and regarded as having a special place among the members of the Christian church on account of these merits.
Chiefly used with reference to early Christian times.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 185 Ðar haueð..martirs, and confessors, and uirgines maked faier bode inne to wunien. a1225Leg. Kath. 2310, I þe feire ferreden of uirgines in heouene. c1290Beket 2302 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 172 Fair was þat processioun..Of Martirs and of confessours and of virgines þer-to. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 8270 And she ys callede Seynt Iustyne, A martyr and an holy vyrgyne. 13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 1098 Þis noble cite..Was sodanly ful..Of such vergynez in þe same gyse Þat was my blysful anvnder croun. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 8 Seint Katerine þe gloriouse virgyne and martyr. c1430Life St. Kath. (1884) 59 Þe wykked tyraunt.. saat in hys astat and bad þat þe holy virgyn schold be presented to hym. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxv. 46 Patriarchis, profeitis, and appostillis deir, Confessouris, virgynis and marteris cleir. c1610Women Saints (1886) 92 Modwene..became the mistresse of verie many like professed and holie virgins. 1652J. Taylor (Water P.) Short Relat. Long Journ. (1859) 10 The pious and chaste virgin Winifrid. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v., In the Roman Breviary, there is a particular Office for Virgins departed. 1810E. D. Clarke Trav. Russia (1839) 56/1 A host of saints, virgins, and bishops, whose pictures covered the walls. 1862Burton Bk. Hunter iv. 326 St. Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins.
2. a. A woman (esp. a young woman) who is, or remains, in a state of inviolate chastity; an absolutely pure maiden or maid.
In early use chiefly of the Virgin Mary: cf. 4 and 5.
a1310in Wright Lyric P. xxx. 88 When y lygge on dethes bed,..On o ledy myn hope is, moder ant virgyne. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints Prol. 50 Til scho consawit godis sone,..scho beand altyme vergine chaste. a1400–50Alexander 4665 Voide & vacand of vices as virgyns it ware. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 8 Alle clad in white, in tokyn of clennes, Lyke pure virginis as in ther ententis. c1485E.E. Misc. (Warton Cl.) 36 When he dyssenddyt..Into a chast wombe of a wyrgene clene. 1536Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 163 He that revisis ane virgine, bot gif scho desire him in mariage, sal be heidit. 1568Satir. Poems Reform. xlvii. 58 Remember first ȝour former qualitie, And wrak na virgenis with ȝour wilfull weir. 1601Shakes. All's Well i. i. 146, I will stand for't a little, though therefore I die a Virgin. 1634W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. I) 318 Nor am I ignorant that never any woman was so vicious, who hath not heretofore bin a Virgin. 1671Milton P.R. i. 138 Then [thou] toldst her doubting how these things could be To her a Virgin, that on her should come The Holy Ghost. 1737Whiston Josephus, Antiq. iii. xii. §2 Moses..permitted him [sc. the high-priest] only to marry a virgin. 1807Med. Jrnl. XVII. 494 Ruysch's subject, though not a virgin, may have yet been troubled with this complaint. 1845Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. I. 230 The venous blood of virgins gave, in 1000 parts [etc.].
fig.1526Tindale 2 Cor. xi. 2 For I coupled you to one man, to make you a chaste virgen to Christ. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 107 God regarded as a virgin, the people whom He had made holy to Himself; He so regards the soul which He has regenerated and sanctified.
b. An old maid, a spinster.
1759Johnson Idler No. 53 ⁋6 Lady Biddy Porpoise, a lethargick virgin of seventy-six.
c. transf. Of things.
1620Capt. Smith New-Eng. Trials Wks. (Arb.) I. 243 From which blessed Virgin [i.e. the colony of Virginia]..sprung the fortunate habitation of Somer Iles. Ibid., This Virgins sister (called New England, An. 1616, at my humble suite). 1756Nugent Gr. Tour, France IV. 303 They give it [sc. Peronne] the name of Virgin, because it was never taken. 1837Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. iv. iii. 292 In the language of the New Platonists, the number seven is said to be a virgin, and without a mother. 1897Westm. Gaz. 18 Jan. 8/3 Similarly, in Africa, the highest mountain is still a virgin.
d. Virginity. (After 1 Cor. vii. 37.) rare.
1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemplar Disc. iv. §12 S. Jerome affirms that, to be continent in the state of widowhood is harder, then to keep our virgin pure.
e. Entom. A female insect producing fertile eggs by parthenogenesis. (Cf. 13 g.)
1883Imperial Dict. (and in later Dicts.).
f. transf. A naïve, innocent, or inexperienced person. Freq. with adj. indicating sphere of activity. colloq.
1953A. Moorehead Rum Jungle iv. 53 A new player [at two-up]..is known as a ‘virgin’. 1964L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin xxxii. 173 He had no strong political ideas... He described himself as a ‘political virgin’. 1970Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 15 May 10/3 There was a competition..called ‘Be a Millionaire’... I was an industrial virgin in those days but friends told me to have a go. I entered and won. 1976E. Stewart Launch! 89 ‘That's a violation of security.’ ‘Stop being a virgin. People in this town bat secrets around like ping-pong balls.’
3. a. A young woman, a maid or maiden, of an age and character affording presumption of chastity.
13..Sir Beues (A.) 2689 A wende, a miȝte leue namore, And ȝet him þouȝte, a virgine Him brouȝte out of al is pine. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 330 God..seiþ bi Iob þat a man shuld make couenaunt wiþ hise wittis to þenke not on a virgyne. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 37 Whiche commaundede also virgynes to be mariede with owte eny dowery. c1450Mirk's Festial 16 Then was scho so meke yn all hor doyngys, þat all othyr vyrgenes called hor qwene of maydens. 1538Starkey England ii. i. 151 The wych some schold..be dystrybutyd..partely to the dote of pore damosellys and vyrgynys. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 20 The Harpies haue Virgins faces, and vultures Talentes. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. v. 37 Yong budding Virgin, faire, and fresh, & sweet, Whether away? 1697Dryden æneid i. 440 She seemed a virgin of the Spartan blood. a1700Evelyn Diary 25 May 1645, Rare pieces, especialy of Guido, Domenico, and a virgin named Isabella Sirani. 1757Burke Abridgm. Eng. Hist. Wks. X. 252 Vortigern was struck with the beauty of a Saxon virgin, a kinswoman of Hengist. 1790Wolcot (P. Pindar) Rowland for Oliver, Ode to Affectation ii, Say, virgin, where dost thou delight to dwell? With maids of honour, startful virgin? 1806W. Herbert Sel. Icel. Poetry i. 119 Two of the Valkyriæ or virgins of slaughter. 1838Dickens Old C. Shop ix, The beautiful virgin took another pinch [of snuff]. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 87 A royal virgin, in odours silkily nestled.
b. In allusions to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt. xxv. 1–13).
1620Gataker Spirituall Watch 62 Either you are a wise Virgin or a foolish one: if a wise one, the company hath need of you; if an unwise one, you of it. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 182 On the sides of this entrance are seen the five foolish and the five wise virgins, in stone. 1826Scott Woodst. ii, Why shouldst thou not talk like one of the wise virgins? 1873Carleton Farm Ball. 22 Next mornin' an ancient virgin took pains to call on us, Her lamp all trimmed and a-burnin' to kindle another fuss.
4. a. the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ. Also, an image or picture representing her.
a1300Cursor M. 24977 Conceiud o þe hali gast, born o þe virgine marie. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 21 He is þe sone of þe vergyne marie. c1400Mandeville Prol. (1839) 1 The seyd blessed and gloriouse Virgine Marie. 1470–85Malory Arthur xvii. v. 697 Also the holy ghoost shewed hym the comynge of the gloryous vyrgyne marye. 1533Gau Richt Vay (S.T.S.) 39 Quhen the virgine Maria hard the salutatione of the angel. 1547Homilies i. Obedience iii, And let vs not forget the blessed virgyn Maries obedience. 1611Bible Matt. i. (heading), Christ..was..borne of the Virgin Mary when she was espoused to Ioseph. 1655Vaughan Silex Scint. Ded., Jesus Christ, The Son of the living God, and the sacred Virgin Mary. 1717[see madonna 2]. 1776Ld. Hailes Ann. Scotl. I. 134 He ascribed his deliverance to the Virgin Mary. 1823Scott Quentin D. v, He wore his national bonnet,..with a Virgin Mary of massive silver for a brooch. 1885J. King Angl. Hymnology 3 The hymn of Hannah is the prototype of the Virgin Mary's ‘Magnificat’.
b. attrib., or in possessive, in popular names of plants (see quots.); also (after Gaelic use) Virgin Mary's nut, the Bonduc or Molucca nut.
1703M. Martin Western Islands 39 If she would but take the White Nut, called the Virgin Maries Nut, and lay it in the Pale into which she was to milk the Cows. 1823E. Moor Suffolk Wds., Virgin Mary thistle, the beautiful and magnificent Carduus Benedictus, or Blessed Thistle. 1855Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. III. 230 Milk Thistle... This very handsome stately plant, the Virgin Mary's Thistle [etc.]. 1869N. & Q. 4th Ser. III. 414/2 In some parts of Berkshire the spotted persicaria..is known as ‘The Virgin Mary's pinch’, from the dark thumb-like mark in the centre of its leaves. 1873Gard. Chron. 26 April 579/3 Pulmonaria officinalis.—This plant is known in Cheshire as Virgin Mary's Honeysuckle. 1880G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Wordbk. 464 Virgin-Mary's-cowslip, Pulmonaria officinalis, common Lungwort.
c. Virgin Mary [after bloody Mary s.v. bloody a. and adv. C. 2], a glass of tomato juice (see quots.). Chiefly U.S.
1976W. Goldman Magic ii. 90 Some girl wanted a Virgin Mary. The waiter nodded. 1977J. Philips Five Roads to Death i. 11 A waitress approached the table. ‘A Virgin Mary... A Bloody Mary without the vodka.’ 1981T. Heald Murder at Moose Jaw ix. 103 Crombie ordered himself a straight tomato juice with..Worcester. The Colonel did not, Bognor noted with approval, refer to the drink as ‘a Virgin Mary’.
5. a. the Virgin (also the blessed, holy, etc., Virgin), = sense 4.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5873 Syn Crist cam of þe vyrgyne, Nyne score ȝer euene, & nyne. c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 4370 Þis was þat Iohan saw in a vision Of hym þat semed þe virgyn son. 1390Gower Conf. II. 186 For be that cause the godhede Assembled was to the manhede In the virgine. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon i. 37 God, that of the vyrgyn was borne in bedeleym. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 10 b, Hymselfe sayenge in the gospell, Excepte ye eate the flesshe of the sone of the virgyn [etc.]. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 139 Desyringe almyghtie God and the blessed virgin to fauour his beginninges. 1623Cockeram iii, Valentineans, a certaine heretiques, who held opinion that our Sauiour receiued not his flesh from the blessed Virgin. 1643Caryl Expos. Job xx. 17 And this is the food which the Virgins son our Immanuel was prophesied to eat. 1704[see annunciation 2]. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 286 The church of the holy virgin at Lireyo. 1797Coleridge Christabel i. 139 Praise we the Virgin all divine Who hath rescued thee from thy distress! 1801Scott Eve St. John xl, ‘Alas! away, away!’ she cried, ‘For the holy Virgin's sake!’ 1867Jas. Campbell Balmerino ii. ix. 122 A full length figure of the Virgin and Holy Child standing within a Gothic niche. 1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. II. xxxiii. 329 Uttering a special prayer to the immaculate Virgin.
b. A picture or image of the Virgin Mary; a madonna.
a1700Evelyn Diary 23 April 1646, There are two Sacristias, in one of which is a fine Virgin of Leonardo da Vinci. 1823Galt R. Gilhaize ix, My grandfather..seized the Virgin's timber leg, and flung it with violence at them. 1840Penny Cycl. XVII. 140/1 A most exquisite Virgin in a tabernacle in the open street at Prato. 1883Parker's Guide to Oxford 87 The niches have been filled with the Virgin and Child [etc.].
6. A person of either sex remaining in a state of chastity. Usually in pl.
a1300Cursor M. 24685 He ledis lijf lik til angels, For uirgins all ar þai. 1390Gower Conf. III. 277 Hou that Adam and Eve also Virgines comen bothe tuo Into the world and were aschamed [etc.]. c1440Alph. Tales 297 When þe Emperour Henrie and Ranegunde his wyfe abade alway clene virgyns. 1451J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert xxxi. 107 Fro þat tyme in whech he was take fro þe world, a-non was he set a-mongis þe dauns of virgynes.
7. A youth or man who has remained in a state of chastity.
c1330Arth. & Merl. 8913 (K.), Þis Naciens..bicome prest, messe to sing; Virgine of his bodi he was. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋950 Virginitee baar oure lord Ihesu crist, and virgine was hym selue. c1450Lovelich Grail xxxix. 559 A virgyne evere schal he be alle dayes of his lyve certeinle. 1470–85Malory Arthur xvii. xviii. 715 Thow arte a clene vyrgyn aboue all knyghtes. a1513Fabyan Chron. vi. ccxiv. 232 This kynge Edwarde lafte after hym no childe, for he was accompted for a virgyn whan he dyed. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. xvi. 101 These Calenders..say themselues to be virgins. 1613J. Hayward Norm. Kings 296 It is certaine also that Anselme, the most earnest enforcer of single life, died not a Virgine. 1653H. Cogan tr. Scarlet Gown 14 It is held for certain, by them which know him, that he is still a Virgin. 1700Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 785 He was reputed a Pure Virgin. 1847tr. Bacci's Life St. Philip Neri ii. xiii. 253 A famous harlot,..having heard it said that Philip was a virgin,..audaciously boasted that she would cause him to fall. 1880A. I. Ritchie Ch. St. Baldred 49 King Malcolm [IV] is universally said to have died a virgin.
fig.1798Lamb Rosamund Gray iv. 498 His temper had a sweet and noble frankness in it, which bespake him yet a virgin from the world.
8. Astr. (With capital initial.) = Virgo.
c1480Henryson Fables, Fox & Wolf iv, Mercurius, the God of Eloquence, Into the Uirgyn maid his residence. c1491Chast. Goddes Chyld. 11 Whan the sonne in tyme of yere begynneth to wythdrawe dounwarde thenne reigneth he in a planete that we call Virgyne. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xliv. (Percy Soc.) 216 Tyll peace and mercy made right to encline, Out of the Lyon to enter the Vyrgyne. c1550Rolland Crt. Venus Prol. 43 The Virgin, Libra, and the Scorpion. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. i. 11 The Virgin, sixt in her degree. 1667Milton P.L. x. 676 Thence down amaine By Leo and the Virgin and the Scales, As deep as Capricorne. 1697Creech Manilius ii. 70 The Twins, Vrn, Virgin force his Sign to bend By Nature's Law. 1730–46Thomson Autumn 23 When the bright Virgin gives the beauteous days, And Libra weighs in equal scales the year. 1762Falconer Shipwr. i. 197 Now, in the southern hemisphere, the sun Thro' the bright Virgin and the Scales had run. 1868Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 326 The Virgin and Boötes are, with the Lion, the most important constellations in view.
9. a. ellipt. Applied to varieties of apple and pear.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. 80 The Squib-pear, Spindle-pear, Virgin, Gascogne-Bergamot. 1886Cheshire Gloss. 378 Virgins, a kind of apple.
b. Ent. Applied to species of moths and butterflies.
1832J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & M. 49 The Virgin (Triphæna Innuba.) Wings two inches to two inches one-third, of uniform colour. Ibid. 100 The Virgin (Brepha Parthenias) appears the end of March.
10. A cigarette made of Virginia tobacco. slang. Now Obs. or rare.
1923J. Manchon Le Slang 329. 1935 C. Brooks Frame-Up iv. 34 You gave me a virgin; I hadn't smoked one for nearly a fortnight. 1940Graves & Hodge Long Week-End iii. 43 In the early Twenties..in offering a cigarette-case one would say, ‘I hope you don't mind: it's only a Virgin.’
11. attrib. and Comb., as virgin-birth, virgin-born adj., virgin-produced adj., virgin-violator, virgin-worship; virgin-bower = virgin's bower; virgin-stock, the Virginia stock; virgin-tree, Oriental sassafras.
1652Crashaw Carmen Deo Nostro Poems (1904) 271 The *virgin-births with which thy soveraign spouse Made fruitfull thy fair soul. 1864Pusey Lect. Daniel viii. 484 That announcement of the Virgin-birth of Him, of whom it is said, she shall call His Name Emmanuel. 1899Daily News 16 Sept. 7/1, I fail to see how those who deny the virgin birth of Our Lord can in any way claim part in the Christian Church.
1671Milton P.R. iv. 500 Then hear, O Son of David, *Virgin-born. 1846Trench Mirac. 46 The Virgin-born, the Son of the Most Highest.
1725Fam. Dict., *Virgin-bower, a Plant of which there are two sorts [etc.]. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. xxvi, The clematis, the favour'd flower Which boasts the name of virgin-bower.
1861N. Syd. Soc. Year-bk. Med. & Surg. 1860, 377 They are altogether equivalent to *virgin-produced ‘zooids’.
1786Abercrombie Gard. Assist. 55 Sweet peas, pansies, *virgin-stock. 1891Cent. Dict. s.v. Stock, The somewhat similar Malcolmia maritima,..in England called Virginia or virgin stock.
1866Treas. Bot. 1219/1 *Virgin-tree, Sassafras Parthenoxylon.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 41 That Angelo is an adulterous thiefe, An hypocrite, a *virgin violator.
1848Kingsley Saint's Trag. Introd. p. xviii, I should..have copied the introduction of *Virgin-worship into the original tale.
12. In possessive collocations: virgin's garland, a garland of flowers and coloured paper formerly carried at the funeral of a maiden; † virgin's honey, -oil, = virgin honey, oil (see 18 b); † virgin's sea = Virginian sea Virginian a.1 1 d; Virgin's spike (see spike n.1 1 b); † virgin's thread (see quot.).
1825Brockett N.C. Gloss., *Virgin's garland, many country churches in the North are adorned with these garlands; in token, says Bourne, of esteem and love, and as an emblem of reward in the heavenly Church. 1828Craven Gloss., Virgin's Garlands. Many of the Churches in the Deanery of Craven are adorned with these garlands. [Description follows.] 1879–81G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Wordbk. 465 Virgins-garlands still exist; as..at Minsterley, where there are several, the most recent of them being of the date 1764.
1611Cotgr., Miel vierge, *Virgins honie, the honie which of it selfe, and without pressing, distills from the combe. 1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Empyema, They mix a quartern of Virgins Honey, with two Paris Pints thereof.
1611Cotgr., Huile Virginal, *Virgins Oyle; the Oyle that comes from the Oliue of it selfe, and without pressing. 1603in Shirburn Ballads lxxvii. 7 His Empyre..Halfe which her beosome foorth doth lay from German to the *Virgin's [v.r. Virginian] sea. 1704Dict. Rust. (1726), *Virgin's-Thread, a sort of Dew, which flies in the Air, like small untwisted Silk or Yarn, and falling upon the Ground or Plants, changes it self into a form like a Spider's web.
II. attrib. passing into adj.
13. a. Of persons (usually of the female sex): Being a virgin or virgins; remaining in a state of chastity.
Virgin Queen, a name for Queen Elizabeth I of England.
1560Bible (Genev.) Jer. xiv. 17 For y⊇ virgine daughter of my people is destroyed..with a sore grieuous plague. 1599Shakes. Much Ado v. iii. 13 Pardon, goddesse of the night, Those that slew thy virgin knight [sc. Hero]. 1611Speed Theat. Gt. Britain i. xi. 21/1 Ursula,..with her companie of canonized Virgin-Saints. 1633Ford Broken Heart Prol., The virgin-sisters then deserv'd fresh bays. Ibid. iii. v, To virgin-wives, such as abuse not wedlock By freedom of desires. 1652Benlowes Theoph. vi. xxv, Hail, blessed Virgin-Spouse, who didst bequeath Breath unto him, who made thee breathe! 1697Dryden æneid xi. 754 The Volscians, and their virgin leader, wait His last commands. a1718Parnell Hesiod 34 In such a shape..As virgin-goddesses are proud to wear. 1738tr. Guazzo's Art Convers. 45, I am, with Respect to any concern with Women, as true a Virgin-man as I came from my Mother's womb. 1786Polwhele tr. Idyllia of Theocritus, etc. (1792) II. 38 And still the Arabian maids have their hair inwreathed with hyacinths, like the virgin companions of Helen. 1827Pollok Course T. x, Stars, the virgin daughters of the sky. 1834L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 40 The virgin-martyr St. Honoria.
b. In predicative use. Also fig., and const. of and to. rare.
1667Milton P.L. ix. 396 Likest she seemd..to Ceres in her Prime, Yet Virgin of Proserpina from Jove. 1849–50Alison Hist. Europe XIV. xcvi. §21. 218 Germany, alike virgin to revolutionary passions, and unused to revolutionary suffering, has had a firebrand tossed into its bosom. 1859Tennyson Guinevere 553 Yet not less, O Guinevere, For I was ever virgin save for thee.
c. the Virgin Mother, the Virgin Mary.
[a1711Ken Sion Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 321 His Virgin-Mother had Angelick Grace.] 1720Welton Suffer. Son of God I. x. 242 The Humble Deference of the sacred Virgin-Mother in Regard to Him, who was her Son, and her God too. 1817Scott Monks of Bangor's March ii, On the long procession goes,..And the Virgin-mother mild In their peaceful banner smiled. 1846A. Marsh Father Darcy II. i. 11, I..would fain enlist every holy saint in the calendar, and implore the virgin mother herself. 1860Tennyson Sea Dreams 234 The Virgin Mother standing with her child High up on one of those dark minster-fronts.
d. virgin widow, a widow who has been deprived of her husband before the consummation of the marriage.
a1644Quarles (title), The Virgin Widow. A Comedie. 1700Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 927 A Virgin-Widow and a Mourning Bride. 1882Stevenson Men & B. 243 Isabella, virgin-widow of our Richard II. 1887J. Gairdner in Dict. Nat. Biog. IX. 291/1 On 2 April [1502]..he [Prince Arthur] died at Ludlow, and Catherine was left a virgin widow.
e. transf. (See quots.)
1674S. Jeake Arith. (1696) 663 Seven, the old Magi called a Virgin Number, supposing the Force thereof great, as a Virgin in her full strength. 1725Fam. Dict., Virgin-Vine, a Plant reckon'd by many among the sorts of Snake-Weed... 'Tis call'd the Virgin-Vine, because, if it may be so said, it is a Maid, and has hitherto brought forth nothing. 1849Owen Parthenogenesis 76 The development of an Aphis in the body of a virgin parent. 1888F. R. Cheshire Bees & Bee-Keeping II. 330 The cage may be used in introducing both laying and virgin queens.
f. Of a fortress, city, etc.: That has never been taken or subdued.
1780Burke Œcon. Reform Wks. III. 240 That household, which has been the stronghold of prodigality, the virgin fortress which was never before attacked. 1856N. Brit. Rev. XXVI. 103 She stands and grows and thrives, a virgin land for now eight hundred years. 1868Chambers's Encycl. X. 186/1 Widdin..is called by the Turks the Virgin Fort, from its never having been taken. 1873Tristram Moab v. 78 Ibrahim..was never able to take Kerak, whose proud boast is that it yet remains a virgin city.
g. virgin generation, virgin procreation, or virgin (re)production, parthenogenesis.
1849Owen Parthenogenesis 28 The structures..which Reaumur..cited in order to solve the problem of the alleged virgin procreation. 1859Todd's Cycl. Anat. V. 37/2 Professor Owen has given the name of Parthenogenesis, or Virgin-production, to this mode of generation. 1881Encycl. Brit. XII. 574/2 While..Hymenoptera reproduce by the union of the two sexes, yet parthenogenesis or virgin reproduction is of not uncommon occurrence.
14. Composed or consisting of virgins.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxviii. iv, Taught by thee, in this tryumphant song, A virgin army did their voices try. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 56 Yong Alcides, when he did redeeme The virgine tribute, paied..To the Sea-monster. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 290 The Graces Adorn our Parks and Malls Crowned with Virgin-Garlands. a1711Ken Psyche Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 306 Psyche then left the lovely virgin-choir. 1820Keats To Psyche 30 Though temple thou hast none,..Nor virgin-choir. 1857Emerson Poems 13 The lover watched his graceful maid, As mid the virgin train she strayed. 1885–94R. Bridges Eros & Psyche April 22 And next the virgin tribe in white forth sail'd.
15. Of or pertaining to a virgin; appropriate to, or characteristic of, virgins:
a. Of parts of the body, articles of dress, etc.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 816 Come challenge me,..And, by this Virgin palme, now kissing thine, I will be thine. 1608― Per. iv. ii. 160 Untied I still my virgin knot will keep. 1616Drummond of Hawthornden Madrigals xlv, This virgine Lock of Haire To Idmon Anthea giues. 1650Bulwer Anthropomet. Pref., The Midwives do the Virgin Zone cashere. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. Introd. Lines 182 Come see her in her Virgin Face, and learn Twixt Idle ones, and Pilgrims to discern. 1725Pope Odyss. iv. 1050 Iphthima the fair,..whose blooming charms Allured Eumelus to her virgin-arms. 1807–8Wordsw. Eccl. Sonn. ii. xxv, Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost With the least shade of thought to sin allied. 1810Scott Lady of L. iii. v, Yet ne'er again to braid her hair The virgin snood did Alice wear. 1819S. Rogers Hum. Life Poems (1839) 10 Moves in her virgin-veil the gentle bride. 1846C. G. Prowett Prometheus Bound 31 Thou favoured maiden, Why in thy virgin-zone still braced?
fig.1855Thackeray Newcomes xxxix, Whenever you found him he seemed watchful and serene, his modest virgin-lamp always lighted and trim.
b. Of qualities, feelings, etc.
a1586Sidney Arcadia ii. xvii. (1622) 165 Though the purenesse of my virgin-mind be stained, let me keepe the true simplicity of my word. 16112nd Maiden's Trag. iii. i. in Hazl. Dodsley X. 433 Hast thou..overcome Thy honour's en'mies with thine own white hand, Where virgin-victory sits. 1633Ford Broken H. ii. iii, The virgin-dowry which my birth bestow'd Is ravish'd by another. 1651Hobbes Govt. & Soc. xviii. §14. 362 Hither also in some respect tends the Virgin-life of Ecclesiasticall Persons. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 270 To whom the Virgin Majestie of Eve..With sweet austeer composure thus reply'd. 1713Addison Cato i. vi, Lucia. Was ever virgin love distress'd like mine! 1720Welton Suffer. Son of God I. iv. 67 Without the least Injury to her Virgin-Purity. 1757Gray Bard 118 Her..face Attemper'd sweet to virgin-grace. 1762Goldsm. Cit. W. lxxxviii, A lady in the virgin bloom of sixty-three. 1808Helen St. Victor Ruins of Rigonda I. 55 These..are mere virgin scruples. 1839De Quincey Recoll. Lakes Wks. 1862 II. 201 The honourable election of a self-dependent virgin seclusion, by preference to a heartless marriage! 1848Thackeray Van. Fair iii, The picture of youth, unprotected innocence, and humble virgin simplicity. 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate ii, We must not disturb her virgin thoughts with a question of marriage.
16. a. Comparable to a virgin in respect of purity or freedom from stain; pure, unstained, unsullied. In early use in fig. context.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 426 We leuen on marye..Þat ber a barne of vyrgyn flour. c1450Godstow Reg. 20 With blessyd Seynt Cuthburge, þat virgyn flour. 1596Spenser Prothalamion 32 The virgin Lillie, and the Primrose trew. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vii. 23 What saies the Siluer, with her virgin hue? 1610― Temp. iv. 55 The white cold virgin Snow vpon my heart. 1633Ford Broken H. v. i, The virgin-bays shall not withstand the lightning With a more careless danger, than my constancy The full of thy relation. 1641Milton Reform. i. Wks. 1851 III. 19 These that must be call'd the ancientest, and most virgin times between Christ and Constantine. 1655Vaughan Silex Scint. i. Search 70 What shades, and cells, Faire virgin-flowers, and hallow'd Wells I should rove in. 1743Francis tr. Hor., Odes i. xxvi. 9 Sweet Muse, who lov'st the virgin Spring, Hither thy sunny Flowrets bring. 1819S. Rogers Hum. Life Poems (1839) 14 A funeral garland hung Of virgin-white. 1818Keats Endym. ii. 113 My veined pebble-floor, that draws A virgin light to the deep. 1839De Quincey Recoll. Lakes Wks. 1862 II. 23 A glittering expanse of virgin snow. 1861Thackeray Four Georges iv. 225 To lead a pure life, to keep your honour virgin. 1885R. Buchanan Annan Water iii, The garden was covered with a sheet of virgin white.
b. Not yet touched, handled, or employed for any purpose; still undisturbed or unused; perfectly fresh or new.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 70 The Rose..which withering on the virgin thorne..dies in single blessednesse. 1638Drummond of Hawthornden Exequies A. Alexander 66 How oft have we Some Chloris Name graven in each Virgin tree? 1785Crabbe Newspaper 29 Unbought, unbless'd, the virgin copies wait In vain for fame. 1799Wordsworth Nutting 21 The hazels rose Tall and erect, with tempting clusters hung, A virgin scene. 1823D'Israeli Cur. Lit. Ser. ii. I. 415, I propose to give what..may be called the Philosophy of Proverbs—a topic which seems virgin. 1838Thirlwall Greece II. xii. 108 A..Samian, named Colæus, reached Tartessus, and found, as Herodotus says, a virgin mart. 1867F. Francis Angling ix. (1880) 307 Salmon..hatched in perfectly virgin waters. 1882Floyer Unexpl. Baluchistan 176 It was at least a virgin country which..had never yet been entered by white man. 1879Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 258 The ravages of Small-pox in a virgin race.
c. Perfectly free or clear of something.
1889Harper's Mag. May 878/2 The Sierra Madres in Mexico are still virgin of sportsmen and skin-hunters.
17. a. Employed for the first time.
1627Drayton Agincourt, etc. 87 When th' Earle of March..His Virgine valour on that day bestowes. 1725Pope Odyss. i. 389 His virgin sword ægysthus' veins imbru'd. 1760Sterne Tr. Shandy i. ix, But [it] is honestly a true Virgin-Dedication untried on, upon any soul living. a1839Praed Poems (1864) II. 16 As on the day that saw him wield His virgin sword in battle field.
b. Forming a first essay or attempt; coming at the beginning or outset.
1627E. F. Hist. Edw. II (1680) 8 The first Virgin-works of his greatness. a1628F. Greville Sidney (1652) 225 Her Virgin-triumph over that..invincible Navy. 1652N. Culverwel Treat. i. xi. (1661) 76 Instincts..the first-born faculties..that are presently espoused to their Virgin-objects. 1708Ozell tr. Boileau's Lutrin 121 A Youth..entring the Lists, his Virgin-Motion makes. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl., To Sir W. Phillips 10 June, Tim Cropdale..had happily wound up the Catastrophe of a virgin-Tragedy, from the Exhibition of which [etc.]. 1857Heavysege Saul (1869) 27 Now quit thee well on this thy virgin field. 1873Hamerton Intell. Life v. iii. 191 That interest you preserve in all its virgin force, and this force carries a man far. 1891Daily News 21 Feb. 3/2 That any measure dealing with..the House of Lords could only be undertaken by the virgin energy of the session.
18. Special collocations:
a. virgin bush, bush land not brought under cultivation; virgin country, country that has not yet been opened up to the outside world for trade, etc.; virgin earth, virgin soil, etc., soil which has not hitherto been brought into cultivation, and retains all its natural power of producing vegetation; virgin forest, a forest of natural growth as yet untouched by man; virgin land, previously uncultivated land, spec. [tr. Russ. tseliná] in Western Siberia and Kazakhstan, land made the subject of an intensive agricultural programme by the Soviet government since 1954; virgin rock, etc., native rock not yet cut into or quarried.
1905W. B. Where White Man Treads 297 A heroic dare-all to share her children's father's toil to build up a home in the *virgin bush. 1982Times 15 Feb. 6/2 The Pope..celebrated Mass at a huge open space..which had been bulldozed out of the virgin bush a few days earlier.
1709T. Robinson in Vind. Mosaick System 103 A small Parcel of *Virgin-Clay, digged some Fathoms under Ground.
1929Daily Express 7 Nov. 8/4 Great tractors that will take heavy loads over *virgin country where there are no roads.
1652French Yorksh. Spa ii. 13 Helmonts sabulum or *virgin-earth, which he saith is a certain sand continued from the Center of the earth in divers places, even to the superficies of the same. 1692Boyle Hist. Air 44 Hoping to find in the salt of what he supposed to be Virgin-earth, the true receptacle of an universal spirit. 1744Berkeley Siris §141 Virgin earth becomes fertile, crops of new plants ever and anon shew themselves. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 280 Hence the astonishing fertility of all new soil, or what is called virgin earth. 1812New Botanic Gard. I. 64 A third part of fresh virgin earth, from a pasture ground.
1886J. Barrowman Sc. Mining Terms 69 *Virgin field, a mineral field untouched or solid.
1851G. F. Richardson Geol. (1855) 443 A *virgin forest of the Isle of Gouahan, one of the Mariana Islands.
1955Britannica Bk. of Year 460/2 New state farms were to be set up at once mainly in Kazakhstan and western Siberia, where there were said to be many millions of acres of *virgin or neglected, but fertile, land. 1959Listener 10 Sept. 378/2 Mr. Khrushchev's virgin⁓lands scheme in Siberia and Kazakhstan. 1967C. Cockburn I, Claud xxxv. 438 Hardly anyone can be packed off to some social equivalent of the Russian ‘virgin lands’ for lousing things up. 1981O. Bernier Pleasure & Privilege xiii. 222 Every day men were claiming and enclosing new, virgin land. Homesteaders were at work all over the Eastern states.
1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 358 Strawberries and potatoes at first produce luxuriantly in *Virgin Mould, recently turned up from pasture.
1877J. Northcote Catacombs i. i. 10 They choose rather to excavate in their own fashion in the *virgin rock below.
1828Webster Virgin,..fresh; new; unused; as *virgin soil. 1837H. Martineau Soc. Amer. II. 106 The slave population..is killed off..on the virgin soils to which alone it is, in any degree, appropriate. 1847Dickens Dombey (1848) xi. 104 We shall impart a great variety of information to our little friend... Quite a virgin soil, I believe you said. 1857Livingstone Trav. xix. 372 Virgin soil does not give such a heavy crop as an old garden. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. III. lxxvi. 6 No event, no speech or article, ever falls upon a perfectly virgin soil.
1868Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 18 It [sc. present practice] will doubtless continue in vogue till our *virgin wheat lands are run over by pioneers.
b. In special names of various substances (usually denoting one in a pure unmixed state or obtained as a first product), as virgin barm, virgin breccia, virgin comb, virgin copper, virgin dip, virgin gold, virgin wool, etc. (see quots.).
1893R. Wells Mod. Pract. Bread Baker 10 *Virgin barm, or bastard barm, as it is sometimes called, is made in somewhat the same way as Parisian barm.
1839Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 454/1 Seme Santo, or *Virgin Breccia. Very small red, chocolate,..white and yellowish angulous fragments.
1891Cent. Dict., *Virgin clay, in industrial arts,..clay that has never been molded or fired, as distinguished from the ground substance of old ware, which is often mixed with it.
1639G. Daniel Ecclus. xxiv. 65 My Memory Is pleasant as the Honey, and my ffee Is sweeter then *Virgin-Combes. 1666Dryden Ann. Mirab. cxlv, With glewy wax some new Foundations lay Of Virgin-combs, which from the Roof are hung. 1867Tomlinson's Cycl. Arts App. 693/2 Some virgin comb that had never seen the light was placed in clean linen.
1728Chambers Cycl., *Virgin Copper, is that which has never been melted down. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 167 Remarkable for the abundance of virgin copper.
1725Fam. Dict., *Virgin-Cream, a Dish for which having the Whites of five Eggs, let them be well whip'd and put into a Pan, with Sugar [etc.].
1856Olmsted Slave States 343 The flow of the first year..is of higher value than the ordinary dip. It is called ‘*virgin dip.’ 1884C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 517 ‘Virgin dip,’ or ‘Soft white gum turpentine’— the product of the first year the trees are worked.
1673E. Browne Acc. Trav. Hungary, etc. 99 There have been pieces of pure or *virgin Gold found in this Mine. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Gold, Virgin Gold, is Gold, just as it is taken out of the Mines before it have undergone any Action, or Preparation of Fire. 1777Robertson Hist. Amer. vii. (1778) II. 343 A late governor of Sante Fé brought with him to Spain a lump of virgin gold. 1837Lockhart Scott (1839) IV. 141 Sir John Malcolm had given him some Indian coins to supply virgin gold for the setting of this relic.
1733Tull Horse-Hoeing Husb. xiv. 182 This came out of the Ricks at Winter with a much finer Colour, and as fine a smell as the *Virgin-Hay.
a1648Digby Closet Opened (1677) 4 It is of three sorts, *Virgin-honey, Live-honey, and Stock-honey. 1679M. Rusden Further Discov. Bees 64 The ignorance of many Country people not knowing which is right Virgin-Hony, and which is not. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 283 The Honey which first flows of it self from the Combs is called Virgin Honey (as is also the Honey which comes from the first Years Swarm). 1772Fletcher Appeal Wks. 1795 I. 204 note, Some poor hungry hearts will say, ‘One thing is needful for us. We cannot have too much virgin-honey’. 1867Tomlinson's Cycl. Arts App. 695/1 Any experiments on this subject must be with virgin honey, or that drained from the new comb.
a1728Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils i. (1729) I. 297 Lead-Grains so pure as nearly to approach the Fineness of *Virgin Lead.
1669Phil. Trans. IV. 1080 *Virgin-Mercury they call that, which discovers itself without the help of fire. 1757tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 144 Virgin mercury..is that which is entirely prepared by nature.
1668Phil. Trans. III. 821 Yet sometimes there are great Masses found all of pure Silver, which is call'd *Virgin-mettal.
1740Somerville Hobbinol i. 202 With his Plant Of toughest *Virgin Oak in rising [he] aids His trembling Limbs.
1719Boyer Dict. Royal i, De l'huile vierge,..sweet, or pure Oyl, *Virgin Oyl. 1853Ure Dict. Arts II. 284 In the district Montpellier, they apply the term virgin oil to that which spontaneously separates from the paste of crushed olives. 1857Miller Elem. Chem., Org. 359 The ripe olives are first subjected to pressure without the application of heat; in this manner the finest oil, or virgin oil, is obtained.
1758Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 199 The most perfect copper..is the Malleable (from its purity called in Cornwall the *Virgin-ore). 1821Byron Sardan. iv. i, The miner lights Upon a vein of virgin ore.
1611Cotgr., Parchemin verri, Cleere Parchment, *virgine Parchment. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Virgin Parchment, a sort of fine Parchment made of the Skin of a young Lamb. 1823Scott Quentin D. xiii, It was fastened round his middle by a broad belt of virgin parchment.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 897 The best [olive oil], called *virgin salad oil, is obtained by gentle pressure in the cold.
1888Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VI. 297/1 In this way the bubbles and sour odor are developed, and what is known as ‘*Virgin Scammony’ is produced.
1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 167, 1300 dollars weight in ingots of *virgin silver. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. xi. 11. I. 182 Silver is very seldom found Virgin. 1806Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 10 It had the appearance of metallic, malleable, or what is called, virgin silver. 1873E. Spon Workshop Receipts Ser. i. 238/2 The silver found in the trade, even under the name of virgin silver, retains traces of copper.
1833J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 39 Run, or *virgin steel;—which, indeed, in the proper sense of the term, is no steel at all, but rather good cast metal.
1668Charleton Onomast. 235 Sulphur Virgineum... *Virgin Sulphur. 1672Compl. Gunner xv. 16 This is called Sulphur Vivum, and by some Virgin Sulphur. 1752Chambers Cycl. s.v. Sulphur, Sulphur vivum, native or virgin sulphur, is that which is dug in this form out of the earth.
1706Art of Painting (1744) 283 On this they laid their *virgin tints, with light strokes of the pencil. 1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty xiv. 190 Let us then..call class 4 of each colour ‘bloom-tints’, or, if you please, ‘virgin tints’, as the painters call them.
1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 430 Take the first, or *virgin wine, which runs of itself from the grapes.
1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 5 Oct. 7/6 (Advt.), Pure *virgin wool socks at 45 c a pair. 1952Amer. Speech XXVII. 262 Woolens and worsteds may be manufactured from virgin wool—any wool that has never before been spun, woven, knitted, felted, or otherwise made into a manufactured product. 1977New Yorker 12 Sept. 106/3, 100% virgin shetland wool from the Shetland-Isles. Hand-loomed and fully-fashioned in the U.S.A.
19. Comb., as virgin-eyed, virgin-minded, virgin-vested adjs.
1848B. D. Walsh Aristoph. 365 note, Jove's virgin-eyed daughter. 1867Earl Lytton Lett. (1906) I. 224 There exists nowhere..a more virgin-minded community of young men. 1871Swinburne Songs bef. Sunrise, Quia Multum Amavit 18 Thou wast fairest and first of my virgin-vested daughters.
Hence ˈvirgin v. (a) intr. with it. To remain a virgin. (b) trans. To speak of, mention (virgins).
1607Shakes. Cor. v. iii. 48 That kisse I carried from thee deare; and my true Lippe Hath Virgin'd it ere since. 1625Massinger New Way iii. ii, Marg. You'll have me, sir, preserve the distance that Confines a virgin? Over. Virgin me no virgins! I must have you lose that name, or you lose me. |