Virago

Virago

Virago is a term that refers to a strong, brave, or warlike woman (from Latin "vir" "a man", compare Tomboy). The term has also been used to refer to a noisy, bossy, and scolding woman. It is closely related to termagant, which is a quarrelsome, scolding woman and shrew, which is a nagging woman.

Latin Bible

"Virago" is the Latin Bible's word for "woman." It was the name given by Adam to the first woman when she was created out of his rib. (The name was later changed to "Eve.") The Latin Bible says:

"Dixitque Adam hoc nunc os ex ossibus meis et caro de carne mea haec vocabitur virago quoniam de viro sumpta est." ("And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.")

The Middle English poem "Cursor Mundi" retains the Latin name for the woman in its otherwise Middle English account of the creation:

"Quen sco was broght be-for adam,Virago he gaf her to nam;þar for hight sco virago,ffor maked of the man was sco." (lines 631-34)

("When she was brought before Adam,Virago was the name he gave to her;Therefore she is called Virago,For she was made out of the man.")

Bibliography

*Ernst Breisach, "Caterina Sforza ; A Renaissance virago", Chicago [usw.] : University Press 1967
*Elizabeth D. Carney,"Olympias and the Image of the Virago" in: Phoenix, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Spring, 1993), pp. 29-55
*Morris, Richard. "Cursor Mundi: A Northunbrian Poem of the XIV Century." London: Oxford UP, 1874. Republished 1961.
*Yenna Wu, "The Chinese virago : a literary theme", Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.] : Harvard Univ. Press, 1995


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  • virago — [ virago ] n. f. • 1452; virage fin XIVe; mot lat. « femme qui a le courage d un homme » ♦ Femme d allure masculine, aux manières rudes et autoritaires. ⇒ dragon, gendarme. Cette « virago sèche comme une merluche qui dès le matin soufflette sa… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Virago — Virago, (lat. virago = eine männlich wirkende Jungfrau, auch eine Heldenjungfrau, Heldin; plur. Viragines) bezeichnet im Deutschen (in der gehobenen Umgangssprache) und Englischen – meist abwertend – ein junges „Mannweib“. Die „Heldenjungfrau“… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • virago — virago, amazon, termagant, scold, shrew, vixen can all mean a woman of pugnacious temperament. Virago and amazon are often interchangeable; both tend to suggest physical vigor and size and often a masculine quality of mind or interests {viragoes… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • virago — virágo s. f. Trimis de siveco, 10.08.2004. Sursa: Dicţionar ortografic  VIRÁGO s.f. (Liv.) Femeie cu statură, fire şi maniere de bărbat. [< fr., lat. virago]. Trimis de LauraGellner, 08.09.2004. Sursa: DN  VIRÁGO s. f. femei cu statură, fire …   Dicționar Român

  • 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. [1913 Webster] To… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • virago — (o viragine /vi radʒine/) s.f. [dal lat. virago gĭnis, der. di vir uomo, maschio ] (pl. invar. o, rarissimo, viragini ). 1. (lett.) [donna dotata di forza e di arditezza virile: Camilla, La gran Volsca v. (A. Caro)]. 2. (fig., scherz.) [donna che …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • virago — (n.) late 14c., man like or heroic woman, from L. virago, from vir man (see VIRILE (Cf. 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 …   Etymology dictionary

  • virago — s. f. Mulher que tem estatura, voz e gestos considerados masculinos.   ‣ Etimologia: latim virago, inis, mulher robusta, heroína, guerreira …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • virago — (Del lat. virāgo, ĭnis). f. Mujer varonil …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • Virāgo — (lat.), 1) Frau, welche sich durch Muth u. Tapferkeit als Mann beweist; 2) Mannweib …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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