virginal

Etymology

From Middle French virginal, from Latin virginālis. The musical instrument is probably so called from being played by young girls.

Adjective

virginal (comparative more virginal, superlative most virginal)

1. Being or resembling a virgin.
2. Uncontaminated or pure.

Noun

Virginal (instrument)

virginal (plural virginal or virginals)

1. (music) A musical instrument in the harpsichord family.
   • 1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 16, in Friday's Business‎:

     His uncle, a Cardinal, engages a Spanish youth of Moorish descent called Diego, an expert singer and player on the virginal, to unlock the secrets of the heart, and to cleanse his bosom of the perilous stuff, and cure him by the spell of his music.

Anagrams

• rivaling

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /viʁ.ʒi.nal/

Adjective

virginal (feminine singular virginale, masculine plural virginaux, feminine plural virginales)

1. virginal

Noun

virginal m (plural virginaux)

1. virginal

Further reading

• “virginal” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Adjective

virginal m, f (plural virginais, comparable)

1. virginal (relating to virgins)
2. virgin: immaculate; chaste; untouched

Adjective

virginal (plural virginales)

1. virginal