Word of the Day
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
virago
\vuh-RAH-go; vuh-RAY-go\ , noun;
1.
A woman of extraordinary stature, strength, and courage.
2.
A woman regarded as loud, scolding, ill-tempered, quarrelsome, or overbearing.
Quotes:
The intrepid heroines range from Unn the Deep Minded, the Viking virago who colonized Iceland, to Sue Hendrikson, a school dropout who became one of the great experts on amber, fossils and shipwrecks.
-- Ann Prichard, "Coffee-table: Africa, cathedrals, animals, 'Sue'", USA Today, November 28, 2001
This virago, this madwoman, finally got to me, and I was subjected to the most rude, the most shocking violence I can remember.
-- José Limón, An Unfinished Memoir
Origin:
Virago comes from Latin virago, "a man-like woman, a female warrior, a heroine" from vir, "a man."
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