Virgo

From Latin virgō (“maiden, virgin; name of constellation”), calque of Ancient Greek παρθένος (parthénos), ultimately derived from ancient Mesopotamian constellations, as Akkadian absinnu and Sumerian 𒀯𒀳 (^mulABSIN₃, “constellation representing fertility goddess Shala with ear of corn”).^[1] Doublet of virgin.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜː.ɡəʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvɝ.ɡoʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ɡəʊ

Virgo (symbol ♍︎)

2. (astronomy): A constellation in the zodiac, imagined in the shape of a maiden, that contains the bright binary star Spica.
   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     Now, masters, draw. [They shoot.] O, well said, Lucius! Good boy, in Virgo’s lap.

   • 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 30:

     The constellation Virgo is a Y-shaped group, of which α, the star at the foot, is the well-known Spica, a star of the first magnitude. [...] The whole resembles more a cup than the human figure; but when we remember the symbolic meaning of the cup, that seems to be an obvious explanation of the name Virgo, which the constellation has borne since the earliest times.

3. (physics, space science) A large-scale gravitational wave detector located in Pisa, Italy.
   • 2017 October 1, Don Lincoln, “Nobel Prize-winning detectors revealed a cosmic cataclysm”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     In February 2016, scientists announced that the first direct observation of gravitational waves had been made using just the two LIGO detectors. That was followed by a second announcement in June 2016. Because Virgo was undergoing an extensive upgrade, it was not operating during these first observations.

5. (astrology): The zodiac sign for the virgin, ruled by Mercury, that covers August 23 – September 23 (tropical astrology) or September 16 – October 15 (sidereal astrology).
6. A surname.

• Virginis
• Virgoan

• (astronomy): Vir (abbreviation)

Virgo (plural Virgos)

1. Someone with a Virgo star sign

• Virgoan

• Pisces

• vigor

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈwɪr.ɡoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈvir.ɡo]

See virgō.

Virgō f sg (genitive Virginis); third declension

1. (astronomy) Virgo (constellation)

Third-declension noun, singular only.

• Italian: Vergine

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Virgō m sg (genitive Virgōnis); third declension

1. a male given name, character in the play Persa by Plautus

Third-declension noun, singular only.

Virgo f

1. (astronomy) Virgo (constellation)

Virgo m

1. (astronomy, astrology) Virgo (constellation)
2. (astrology) Virgo (zodiac sign)