vestal virgin
noun
1
: a virgin consecrated to the Roman goddess Vesta and to the service of watching the sacred fire perpetually kept burning on her altar
2
: a chaste woman
Examples of vestal virgin in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
These women are not just queens and princesses, but also vestal virgins and whores, traitors and patriots, saintly martyrs, savvy businesswomen, informers, poets, and rebels.
—
Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 8 Nov. 2023
Russell and his mission colleagues named the crater Rheasilvia, after a vestal virgin in Roman mythology.
—Tim Folger, Discover Magazine, 24 Oct. 2012
To mark the legendary founding of the city and its past glory, there is usually a crowded birthday parade of re-enactors dressed up as gladiators and vestal virgins.
—Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 1 May 2020
The vestal virgins, who maintained the sacred fire of Vesta, the goddess of hearth and home, were the Beyhive of their day.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2019
The vestal virgins, whose images appear on coins and friezes in Mr. MacGregor’s pages, held the high responsibility of keeping the Roman national hearth alight.
—Andrew Stark, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2018
Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 8 Nov. 2023
Russell and his mission colleagues named the crater Rheasilvia, after a vestal virgin in Roman mythology.
—Tim Folger, Discover Magazine, 24 Oct. 2012
To mark the legendary founding of the city and its past glory, there is usually a crowded birthday parade of re-enactors dressed up as gladiators and vestal virgins.
—Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 1 May 2020
The vestal virgins, who maintained the sacred fire of Vesta, the goddess of hearth and home, were the Beyhive of their day.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2019
The vestal virgins, whose images appear on coins and friezes in Mr. MacGregor’s pages, held the high responsibility of keeping the Roman national hearth alight.
—Andrew Stark, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vestal virgin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near vestal virgin
Cite this Entry
“Vestal virgin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vestal%20virgin. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share