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• virgin
  virgin

  noun

  a person who has never had sexual intercourse.
• Virgin
  Virgin

  noun

  See Virgin Mary

virgin

American  

[vur-jin] / ˈvɜr dʒɪn /

noun

• virgins
  plural

1. a person who has never had sexual intercourse.

2. an unmarried girl or woman.

   Synonyms:

   maiden, maid

3. Ecclesiastical. an unmarried, religious woman, especially a saint.

4. the Virgin, Mary, the mother of Christ.

5. Informal. any person who is uninitiated, uninformed, or the like.

   He's still a virgin as far as hard work is concerned.

6. a female animal that has never copulated.

7. an unfertilized insect.

8. Astronomy, Astrology. Virgin, the constellation or sign of Virgo.

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adjective

1. being a virgin.

   a virgin martyr.

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of a virgin.

   virgin modesty.

3. pure; unsullied; undefiled.

   virgin snow.

   Synonyms:

   chaste

   Antonyms:

   defiled

4. first.

   the senator's virgin speech.

5. without admixture, alloy, or modification.

   virgin gold.

   Synonyms:

   unadulterated, unalloyed

   Antonyms:

   impure

6. not previously exploited, cultivated, tapped, or used: virgin wool.

   virgin timberlands;

   virgin wool.

   Synonyms:

   untouched, pristine, new

7. without experience of; not previously exposed to.

   a mind virgin to such sorrows.

8. Informal. being a mixed drink resembling a specific cocktail but made without any alcoholic ingredient.

   a virgin piña colada.

9. Zoology. not fertilized.

10. (of a metal) made directly from ore by smelting, rather than from scrap.

11. noting the oil obtained, as from olives, by the first pressing without the application of heat.

virgin ¹ British  

/ ˈvɜːdʒɪn /

noun

1. a person, esp a woman, who has never had sexual intercourse

2. an unmarried woman who has taken a religious vow of chastity in order to dedicate herself totally to God

3. any female animal that has never mated

4. a female insect that produces offspring by parthenogenesis

5. a person who is new to or inexperienced in a specified field

   a political virgin

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adjective

1. of, relating to, resembling, suitable for, or characteristic of a virgin or virgins; chaste

2. pure and natural, uncorrupted, unsullied, or untouched

   virgin purity

3. not yet cultivated, explored, exploited, etc, by man

   virgin territories

4. being the first or happening for the first time

5. (of vegetable oils) obtained directly by the first pressing of fruits, leaves, or seeds of plants without applying heat

6. (of a metal) made from an ore rather than from scrap

7. occurring naturally in a pure and uncombined form

   virgin silver

8. physics (of a neutron) not having experienced a collision

Virgin ² British  

/ ˈvɜːdʒɪn /

noun

1. See Virgin Mary

2. a statue or other artistic representation of the Virgin Mary

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Virgin ³ British  

/ ˈvɜːdʒɪn /

noun

1. the constellation Virgo, the sixth sign of the zodiac

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unvirgin
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• virgins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of virgin

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English virgine, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin virgin-, stem of virgō “maiden, virgin”

Explanation

A virgin is someone who has never had sex. After you have sex, you've lost your virginity. We can also say an unharvested forest is a virgin forest. Virgins haven't had sex yet. But this word is also used in a non-sexual sense to describe something that remains pristine, untouched, or uninitiated. A virgin resource hasn't been used yet. If you've never given a speech, someone might call you a "public speaking virgin." So virgin always means inexperienced or unused, whether you're talking about sex or something else.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

virgin Virgin virgins

Pesto is made here with basil, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, garlic and grated cheese, all ground to a thick paste.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

It is the last plant in the UK producing virgin steel, which is used in major construction projects like buildings and railways.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Researchers wondered whether some of the virgin polymer could be replaced with discarded plastics.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026

Alexander said until governments mandate that product manufacturers use recycled material, companies are going to stick with virgin, because it’s plentiful and cheap.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

I remember being in awe of the new street signs, like some virgin territory had been discovered and we were some of the first to visit it.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

Virgin Media O2 recently called for urgent reform after being "forced" to switch off dozens of mobile sites across London because of new building developments.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

In his plea, Max acknowledged bartering art for real estate and hiding income to buy real estate in Southampton, New York, the US Virgin Islands and upstate New York.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

Virgin Islands, it marked the largest calving event from any Arctic glacier since 2020.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

It had a buy call and A$3.15/share price target on Virgin ahead of the result.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

She took her rosary beads she kept next to the statue of the Virgin on top of the chest of drawers, then knelt in prayer.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Working with mice, the researchers first created four test groups: unstressed virgins, stressed virgins, unstressed mothers and stressed mothers.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 16, 2024

"She apparently bathed in the blood of virgins to maintain her youth," Liz said.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2023

Folklore, particularly in the Muslim world, contains many stories of women who breastfed children other than their own, including tales of virgins doing so without ever having given birth.

From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2023

Before we start: a wee plot summary for the “Sleepless in Seattle” virgins out there.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2023

I would study pictures of martyrs—white- robed virgins fallen in death and the young, almost smiling, St. Sebastian, transfigured in pain.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez