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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

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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”

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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

That previous trial showed that a Mediterranean diet enriched with extra virgin olive oil or nuts reduced cardiovascular disease risk by 30%.

From Science Daily ● May 19, 2026

Also, there are still several ships at sea carrying inventory from before the war, meaning cheap virgin supplies are still making their way to processors.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

In Rome her fire was cared for by six virgin priestesses, called Vestals.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

His late ’90s breakthrough in the triple-hitter lineup of “Halloween: H20,” “The Faculty” and “The Virgin Suicides” catapulted him to international fame practically overnight, cementing his place alongside the era’s Tiger Beat celebrity infatuations.

From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026

Whitesides was the first chief executive of Virgin Galactic, which employed hundreds of people in Antelope Valley.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

In October, Infiniweb, an online gaming company registered in the British Virgin Islands, challenged the Justice Department’s $225 million seizure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

The coroner's court heard that Lady Joan was admitted to the hospital on 17 November after a fall weeks earlier on Necker Island, a British Virgin Island owned by her billionaire husband.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

In his own high school years, Volpe had been protected by his football-playing friends, his fellow altar boys from Maternity Blessed Virgin Mary.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

But these laws punish all women and girls: mothers and non-mothers, wives and single women, women who've had 100 partners and those who were virgins when raped.

From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2024

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

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

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2023

These women are known as the burrneshat, or sworn virgins.

From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2022

In the Lives of the Saints the virgins are always getting into trouble and I don’t know why.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

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