| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| virgin |
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| SYLLABICATION: | vir·gin |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  vûr j n |
| NOUN: | 1. A person who has not experienced sexual intercourse. 2. A chaste or unmarried woman; a maiden. 3. An unmarried woman who has taken religious vows of chastity. 4. Virgin The Virgin Mary. 5. Zoology A female insect or other arthropod that produces fertile eggs without copulating. | | ADJECTIVE: | 1. Of, relating to, or being a virgin; chaste. 2. Being in a pure or natural state; unsullied: virgin snow. 3. Unused, uncultivated, or unexplored: virgin territory. 4. Existing in native or raw form; not processed or refined. 5. Happening for the first time; initial. 6. Obtained directly from the first pressing: virgin olive oil. 7. Zoology Producing fertile eggs without copulating. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French virgine, from Latin virg , virgin-.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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