Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
VIRGINALLING
VIRGINAL
Vir"gin*al, a. Etym: [L. virginalis: cf. F. virginal.]
Definition: Of or pertaining to a virgin; becoming a virgin; maidenly. "Chastity and honor virginal." Spenser. Virginal generation (Biol.), parthenogenesis.
– Virginal membrane (Anat.), the hymen.
Vir"gin*al, n. Etym: [Cf. F. virginale; -- probably so called from being used by young girls, or virgins.] (Mus.)
Definition: 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.
Vir"gin*al, v. i.
Definition: To play with the fingers, as if on a virginal; to tap or pat. [Obs.] "Still virginaling upon his palm!" Shak.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Word of the Day
18 April 2025
GROIN
(noun) the crease at the junction of the inner part of the thigh with the trunk together with the adjacent region and often including the external genitals
Coffee Trivia
