Library / English Dictionary

VESTAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A chaste woman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("vestal" is a kind of...):

adult female; woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))

Derivation:

vestal (in a state of sexual virginity)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

In a state of sexual virginity

Example:

men have decreed that their women must be pure and virginal

Synonyms:

pure; vestal; virgin; virginal; virtuous

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

chaste (morally pure (especially not having experienced sexual intercourse))

Derivation:

vestal (a chaste woman)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to Vesta

Example:

vestal virgin

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Vesta ((Roman mythology) goddess of the hearth and its fire whose flame was tended by vestal virgins; counterpart of Greek Hestia)

Derivation:

Vesta (the brightest asteroid but the fourth to be discovered)

Credits