virginity

nouncommon in dialogue

//və(ɹ)ˈd͡ʒɪnɪti//

The state or characteristic of being a virgin.

noun

1
The state or characteristic of being a virgin.
to lose one's virginity
She had a lot of dark hair pinned untidily back from a small well-formed brow, and her tilted nose and large embarrassed eyes had survived intact from the mistrusts and agitations of a schoolgirl, which maturity had striven to defeat by lengthening her chin and tightening her lips, while giving her skin the faintly furred matt surface of pickled virginity.

Etymology

From Middle English virginite, from Old French virginite, from Latin virginitas. Equivalent to virgin + -ity. Displaced native Old English mæġeþhād (compare modern English maidhood), originally meaning “girlhood.”

Forms

plural: virginities

virgin · A person who has never had sexual intercourse, or…Virgin · Synonym of Virgin Mary (“Mary, mother of Jesus”).Virginia · A state of the United States. Official name: Commonwealth of…

virginity · The state or characteristic of being a virgin.

Virgins · The Virgin Islands.virtual · In effect or essence, rather than in fact or reality; also,…virtually · Almost but not quite.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.