Wiktionary

virga

See also: Virga

English

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A virga denoting do.

Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin virga (“rod”). Doublet of verge.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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virga (countable and uncountable, plural virgas or virgae)

  1. (music) A type of note used in plainsong notation, having a tail and representing a single tone.
  2. (meteorology, countable) A streak of rain or snow that is dissipated in falling and does not reach the ground, commonly appearing descending from a cloud layer.
    • 2003, Erik Larson, “Pilgrimage”, in The Devil in the White City, Vintage Books, page 78:
      Strong gusts of wind buffeted the train, and ghostly virga of ice followed it through the night.
  3. (measurement, countable) A unit of length: a rod, pole or perch (5½ yards); or a unit of area: a square rod, pole or perch.

Synonyms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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virga f (plural virgues)

  1. (meteorology) virga

Esperanto

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin virgō +‎ -a.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈvirɡa]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -irɡa
  • Hyphenation: vir‧ga

Adjective

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virga (accusative singular virgan, plural virgaj, accusative plural virgajn)

  1. virgin, virginal

Derived terms

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Estonian

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Adjective

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virga

  1. genitive singular of virk

French

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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virga f (plural virgas)

  1. (meteorology) virga

Interlingua

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Etymology

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Italian verga, French verge, Spanish verga, and Portuguese virga.

Noun

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virga (plural virgas)

  1. rod
  2. (nautical) yard
  3. (vulgar) dick

Istriot

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Etymology

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From Latin virga.

Noun

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virga f

  1. whip
  2. strap

Latin

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Etymology

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From Proto-Italic *wizgā, probably from Proto-Indo-European *wisgeh₂ (“flexible rod or stick”).[1] Possibly cognate with Proto-Germanic *wiskaz (“bundle of hay or straw, wisp”).[2] The Proto-Indo-European term is sometimes taken as an extension of Proto-Indo-European *weys- (“to produce, procreate”), or alternatively from a stem *weyḱs- (see *weyḱ-). Regardless, it is probably a doublet of viscum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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virga f (genitive virgae); first declension

  1. twig, young shoot
  2. rod, switch for flogging.
    • 4th-century CE, Jerome of Stridon (St. Jerome), Vulgate, Proverbs 26:3
      flagellum equō et cāmus asinō et virgā dorsō inprūdentium
      A whip for a horse, and a snaffle for an ass, and a rod for the back of fools.
      (trans.: Douay-Rheims Bible)
  3. staff, walking stick
    • 8 AD . Fasti, Publius Ovidius Naso, Liber II, 703-704.
      Illic Tarquinius mandata latentia nati
      Accipit, et virga lilia summa metit.
      There Tarquinius is receiving secret mandates of the son
      And is knocking down with staff the tops of lilies.
  4. wand (magical)
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.242–243:
      Tum virgam capit: Hāc animās ille ēvocat Orcō
      pallentīs, aliās sub Tartara trīstia mittit, [...].
      Then [Mercury] takes up his wand: With this he calls pale souls from Orcus, or sends others down to sorrowful Tartarus, [...].
      (Specifically, the caduceus that Mercury uses in his role as psychopompus.)
  5. (figuratively, Late Latin, Medieval Latin) penis
    • ca. 540, Cassiodorus, On the Soul :
      sunt etiam singularia in medio constituta ne in unam partem praeiudicialiter vergentia alteram competenti decore nudarent: nasus, os, guttur, pectus, umbilicus, et genitalium virga descendens, quae laudabilia et honora monstrantur quando in medio locata consistunt.
      These [body parts] are one by one placed in the middle, because if they converged to the same place, one would deprive the honour of another part. The nose, mouth, throat, chest, navel, and the rod of the genitals show their merit and excellence by being placed in the middle.

Declension

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First-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative virga virgae
Genitive virgae virgārum
Dative virgae virgīs
Accusative virgam virgās
Ablative virgā virgīs
Vocative virga virgae

Derived terms

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Derived terms

Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “virga”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 682
  2. ^ “verga” in: Alberto Nocentini, Alessandro Parenti, “l'Etimologico — Vocabolario della lingua italiana”, Le Monnier, 2010, →ISBN

Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbiɾɡa/ [ˈbiɾ.ɣ̞a]
  • Rhymes: -iɾɡa
  • Syllabification: vir‧ga

Adjective

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virga f sg

  1. feminine singular of virgo
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