Nearby Words

vestal

[ves-tl] Origin

ves·tal

[ves-tl]
adjective
1.
of or pertaining to the goddess Vesta.
2.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a vestal virgin; chaste; pure.
noun
4.
a chaste unmarried woman; virgin.
5.
a nun.

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Vestal is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. 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 screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English (adj.) < Latin vestālis. See Vesta, -al1
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
vestal (ˈvɛstəl)
 
adj
1.  chaste or pure; virginal
2.  of or relating to the Roman goddess Vesta
 
n
3.  a chaste woman; virgin
4.  a rare word for nun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

vestal
"chaste, pure, virgin," 1590s, originally (early 15c.) "belonging to or dedicated to Vesta," Roman goddess of hearth and home. The noun is recorded from 1570s, short for Vestal virgin, one of four (later six) priestesses (L. virgines Vestales) in charge of the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta in Rome.
EXPAND
The goddess name, attested in English from late 14c., corresponds to, and may be cognate with, Gk. Hestia, from hestia "hearth," from PIE base *wes- "to dwell, stay" (cf. Skt. vasati "stays, dwells," Goth. wisan, O.E., O.H.G. wesan "to be").
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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