Adjacent Words

Virginal definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VIR'GINAL, a. Pertaining to a virgin; maidenly; as virginal chastity.
VIR'GINAL, n. A keyed instrument of one string, jack and quill to each note, like a spinet, but in shape resembling the forte piano; out of use.
VIR'GINAL, v.i. To pat; to strike as on a virginal [A cant word.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: characteristic of a virgin or virginity; "virginal white dresses"
2: untouched or undefiled; "nor is there anything more virginal than the shimmer of young foliage"- L.P.Smith
3: 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" [syn: pure, vestal, virgin, virginal, virtuous] n
1: a legless rectangular harpsichord; played (usually by women) in the 16th and 17th centuries [syn: virginal, pair of virginals]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Date: 15th century 1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a virgin or virginity; especially pure, chaste <a virginal young girl> 2. pristine, unsullied <a virginal snowfall> • virginally adverb II. noun Etymology: probably from Latin virginalis of a virgin, from virgin-, virgo Date: 1530 a small rectangular spinet having no legs and only one wire to a note and popular in the 16th and 17th centuries — often used in plural; called also pair of virginals • virginalist noun

Britannica Concise

Small rectangular harpsichord with a single set of strings and a single manual. The derivation of its name is uncertain. The virginal's strings run parallel to the keyboard, which occupies only a portion of the longer side. Combination virginals include a smaller portable virginal that can be placed on top of the larger keyboard to create a two-manual instrument. The virginal was particularly popular in 16th-17th-cent. England, where much music was written for it by W. Byrd, T. Morley, T. Weelkes, and others.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. that is or befits or belongs to a virgin. --n. (usu. in pl.) (in full pair of virginals) an early form of spinet in a box, used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Derivatives: virginalist n. virginally adv. Etymology: ME f. OF virginal or L virginalis (as VIRGIN): name of the instrument perh. from its use by young women

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Virginal Vir"gin*al, n. [Cf. F. virginale; -- probably so called from being used by young girls, or virgins.] (Mus.) 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Virginal Vir"gin*al, v. i. To play with the fingers, as if on a virginal; to tap or pat. [Obs.] ``Still virginaling upon his palm!'' --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Virginal Vir"gin*al, a. [L. virginalis: cf. F. virginal.] Of or pertaining to a virgin; becoming a virgin; maidenly. ``Chastity and honor virginal.'' --Spenser. Virginal generation (Biol.), parthenogenesis. Virginal membrane (Anat.), the hymen.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you describe someone as virginal, you mean that they look young and innocent, as if they have had no experience of sex. Somehow she'd always been a child in his mind, pure and virginal... = pure ADJ 2. Something that is virginal looks new and clean, as if it has not been used or spoiled. ...abandoning worn-out land to cultivate virginal pasture. ADJ

Moby Thesaurus

Platonic, abstinent, artless, bachelorlike, budding, callow, celibate, continent, dewy, ever-new, evergreen, firsthand, fledgling, fresh, green, growing, husbandless, immature, impubic, in the raw, inartificial, inexperienced, ingenuous, innocent, intact, juicy, maiden, maidenly, minor, naive, native, natural, neoteric, nestling, new, new-fledged, old-maidish, original, pristine, raw, ripening, sappy, sempervirent, single, sole, spinsterish, spinsterlike, spinsterly, spouseless, tender, unadult, unbeaten, underage, undeveloped, unfledged, unformed, unhandled, unlicked, unmarried, unmellowed, unripe, unseasoned, unspoiled, unsullied, untapped, untouched, untried, untrodden, unused, unwed, unwedded, vernal, vestal, virgin, young