virginal
Noun · AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)
- a legless rectangular harpsichord; played (usually by women) in the 16th and 17th centuriesSynonyms: pair of virginalsType of harpsichord, cembalo
Adjective (3)
- characteristic of a virgin or virginity“virginal white dresses”Relating to virginity
- untouched or undefiled“nor is there anything more virginal than the shimmer of young foliage — L.P.Smith”Opposite impureSimilar pure
- in a state of sexual virginity“pure and vestal modesty”“a spinster or virgin lady”“men have decreed that their women must be pure and virginal”Synonyms: purevestalvirginvirtuousOpposite unchasteSimilar chaste
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. virginalis: cf. F. virginal.
Of or pertaining to a virgin; becoming a virgin; maidenly. “Chastity and honor virginal.” Edmund Spenser
Virginal generation Biology, parthenogenesis. — Virginal membrane Anatomy, the hymen.
Origin: Cf. F. virginale; — probably so called from being used by young girls, or virgins.
Music An instrument somewhat resembling the spinet, but having a rectangular form, like the small piano. It had strings and keys, but only one wire to a note. The instrument was used in the sixteenth century, but is now wholly obsolete. It was sometimes called a pair of virginals.
To play with the fingers, as if on a virginal; to tap or pat. obsolete “Still virginaling upon his palm!” William Shakespeare
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54