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vestal - 5 dictionary results
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ves⋅tal

  [ves-tl]
Use vestal in a Sentence
–adjective
1. of or pertaining to the goddess Vesta.
2. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a vestal virgin; chaste; pure.
–noun
3. vestal virgin.
4. a chaste unmarried woman; virgin.
5. a nun.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME (adj.) < L vestālis. See Vesta, -al 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Vestal
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ves·tal   (věs'təl)   
adj.  
  1. Roman Mythology
    1. Of or relating to Vesta.
    2. Relating to or characteristic of the vestal virgins.
  2. Chaste; pure.
n.  
  1. Roman Mythology A vestal virgin.
  2. A woman who is a virgin.
  3. A nun.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Vestal

Ves"tal\, a. [L. Vestalis belonging to Vesta, vestal. See Vesta.] Of or pertaining to Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth; hence, pure; chaste.

Vestal

Ves"tal\, n. [L. Vestalis (sc. virgo): cf. F. vestale. See Vestal, a.]

1. (Rom. Antiq.) A virgin consecrated to Vesta, and to the service of watching the sacred fire, which was to be perpetually kept burning upon her altar.

Note: The Vestals were originally four, but afterward six, in number. Their term of service lasted thirty years, the period of admission being from the sixth to the tenth year of the candidate's age.

2. A virgin; a woman pure and chaste; also, a nun.

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! --Pope.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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vestal  (adj.)
"chaste, pure, virgin," 1595, originally (1432) "belonging to or dedicated to Vesta," Roman goddess of hearth and home. The noun is recorded from 1579, 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. The goddess name, attested in Eng. from 1387, 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").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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