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.
Vir"gin, n. Etym: [L. virgo, -inis: cf. OF. virgine, virgene, virge, vierge, F. vierge.]
1. A woman who has had no carnal knowledge of man; a maid.
2. A person of the male sex who has not known sexual indulgence. [Archaic] Wyclif. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. Rev. xiv. 4. He his flesh hath overcome; He was a virgin, as he said. Gower.
3. (Astron.)
Definition: See Virgo.
4. (Zoöl.)
Definition: Any one of several species of gossamer-winged butterflies of the family Lycænidæ.
5. (Zoöl.)
Definition: A female insect producing eggs from which young are hatched, though there has been no fecundation by a male; a parthenogenetic insect. The Virgin, or The Blessed Virgin, the Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord.
– Virgin's bower (Bot.), a name given to several climbing plants of the genus Clematis, as C. Vitalba of Europe, and C. Virginiana of North America.
Vir"gin, a.
1. Being a virgin; chaste; of or pertaining to a virgin; becoming a virgin; maidenly; modest; indicating modesty; as, a virgin blush. "Virgin shame." Cowley. Innocence and virgin modesty . . . That would be wooed, and unsought be won. Milton.
2. Pure; undefiled; unmixed; fresh; new; as, virgin soil; virgin gold. "Virgin Dutch." G. W. Cable. The white cold virgin snow upon my heart. Shak. A few ounces of mutton, with a little virgin oil. Landor.
3. Not yet pregnant; impregnant. Milton.
Vir"gin, v. i.
Definition: To act the virgin; to be or keep chaste; -- followed by it. See It, 5. [Obs.] "My true lip hath virgined it e'er since [that kiss]." Shak.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
27 January 2025
(adjective) capable of being split or cleft or divided in the direction of the grain; “fissile crystals”; “fissile wood”
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.