hymen

hy·men

[hahy-muhn]
noun Anatomy.
a fold of mucous membrane partly closing the external orifice of the vagina in a virgin.

Origin:
1605–15; < Late Latin hymēn < Greek hymḗn skin, membrane, the virginal membrane

Dictionary.com Unabridged

Hy·men

[hahy-muhn]
noun
the ancient Greek god of marriage.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To hymen
00:10
Hymen is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Collins
World English Dictionary
hymen (ˈhaɪmɛn) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
anatomy a fold of mucous membrane that partly covers the entrance to the vagina and is usually ruptured when sexual intercourse takes place for the first time
 
[C17: from Greek: membrane]
 
'hymenal
 
adj

Hymen (ˈhaɪmɛn) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
the Greek and Roman god of marriage

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

hymen
1615, from Fr. hymen (16c.), ult. from Gk. hymen "virginal membrane, thin skin." Originally any membrane; present specific meaning begins with Vesalius, 1550. Hymeneal "wedding hymn" is 1717, from L. hymenaeus, from Gk. hymenaios "belonging to wedlock, wedding, wedding song," from Hymen, Gk. god of marriage,
represented as a youth carrying a torch and a veil.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

hymen hy·men (hī'mən)
n.
A membranous fold of tissue that partly or completely occludes the external vaginal orifice.


hy'men·al adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
hymen   (hī'mən)  Pronunciation Key 
A mucous membrane that partly closes the opening of the vagina.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
Hymen [(heye-muhn)]

The Greek god of the wedding feast.

hymen [(heye-muhn)]

A thin fold of mucous membrane that covers all or part of the entrance to the vagina.

Note: An apparently intact hymen is valued in some cultures as proof of virginity in a bride; this “proof,” however, is not accurate. The hymen may appear incomplete in a virgin, and it may appear intact in a woman who has engaged in sexual intercourse.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT