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virginal |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: virginal 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}, {virtuous}] n : a legless rectangular harpsichord; played (usually by women) in the 16th and 17th centuries [syn: {pair of virginals}]
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