virginal
1 Americannoun
adjective
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of, relating to, characterized by, proper to, or maintaining a state of virginity; chaste
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extremely pure or fresh; untouched; undefiled
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of virginal1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin virginālis, equivalent to virgin- (stem of virgō virgin ) + -ālis -al 1
Origin of virginal2
First recorded in 1520–30; apparently special use of virginal 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Virginal student Abby falls for tattooed bad boy Travis but she's fleeing from her past and he reminds her of it, so how can they ever be together?
From The Guardian • Aug. 1, 2012
Mr. Weiss was on his own on Sunday afternoon at Corpus Christi Church, when he opened the Music Before 1800 season with “A Cleare Day,” a program of selections from the “Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.”
From New York Times • Sep. 26, 2011
The unofficially censored book is Edwin Franden Dakin's Mrs. Eddy: The Biography of a Virginal Mind, published by Scribner's last August, now unobtainable at many a bookstore.
From Time Magazine Archive
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The tune has a striking likeness to 'Walsingham,' which is the first piece in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
From Shakespeare and Music With Illustrations from the Music of the 16th and 17th centuries by Naylor, Edward W. (Edward Woodall)
It is singular that the Virginal, which was the most popular of all the keyed instruments, is nowhere directly named in Shakespeare.
From Shakespeare and Music With Illustrations from the Music of the 16th and 17th centuries by Naylor, Edward W. (Edward Woodall)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.