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virago - 4 dictionary results

vi⋅ra⋅go

  [vi-rah-goh, -rey-]
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–noun, plural -goes, -gos.
1. a loud-voiced, ill-tempered, scolding woman; shrew.
2. Archaic. a woman of strength or spirit.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME, OE < L virāgō, equiv. to vir man + -āgō suffix expressing association of some kind, here resemblance

Synonyms:
1. scold, nag, termagant, harpy, Xanthippe.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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vi·ra·go   (və-rä'gō, -rā'-, vîr'ə-gō')   
n.   pl. vi·ra·goes or vi·ra·gos
  1. A woman regarded as noisy, scolding, or domineering.
  2. A large, strong, courageous woman.

[Latin virāgō, from vir, man; see wī-ro- in Indo-European roots.]
vi·rag'i·nous (və-rāj'ə-nəs) adj.
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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Virago

Vi*ra"go\ (?; 277), n.; pl. Viragoes. [L. virago, -intis, from vir a man. See Virile.]

1. A woman of extraordinary stature, strength, and courage; a woman who has the robust body and masculine mind of a man; a female warrior.

To arms! to arms! the fierce virago cries. --Pope.

2. Hence, a mannish woman; a bold, turbulent woman; a termagant; a vixen.

Virago . . . serpent under femininity. --Chaucer.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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virago 
1387, "man-like or heroic woman," from L., from vir "man" (see virile). Ælfric (c.1000), following Vulgate, used it in Gen. ii.23 (KJV = woman):
Beo hire nama Uirago, þæt is, fæmne, forðan ðe heo is of hire were genumen.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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