vestal

[ ves-tl ]
See synonyms for vestal on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. of or relating to the goddess Vesta.

  2. of, relating to, or characteristic of a vestal virgin; chaste; pure.

noun
  1. a chaste unmarried woman; virgin.

  1. a nun.

Origin of vestal

1
1400–50; late Middle English (adj.) <Latin vestālis.See Vesta, -al1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use vestal in a sentence

  • The Vestals wore a robe of pure white linen with a wide purple border, and over their shoulders was a purple mantle.

  • The vestals also, whose sole intervention put an end to all violence, did not spare their prayers.

    History of Julius Caesar Vol. 1 of 2 | Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, 1808-1873.
  • Look on the Vestals, The holy pledges that the gods have given you, Your chaste, fair daughters.

  • But the vestals on the banks of the Ganges and the Indus understand the question differently from those on the banks of the Tiber.

    From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan | Helena Pretrovna Blavatsky
  • The thirty years being ended, the Vestals returned to their families.

    The Student's Mythology | Catherine Ann White

British Dictionary definitions for vestal

vestal

/ (ˈvɛstəl) /


adjective
  1. chaste or pure; virginal

  2. of or relating to the Roman goddess Vesta

noun
  1. a chaste woman; virgin

  2. a rare word for nun 1 (def. 1)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012