virgō

Virgō is Latin, and its etymology is genuinely uncertain. Some scholars connect it to virga (a twig, a green branch), suggesting the original meaning was 'young, fresh, not yet bearing fruit.' Others propose a connection to vir (man) through a negative prefix — someone not yet with a man. A third theory links it to a lost Indo-European root. Varro, the Roman scholar, suggested it came from the vigor of youth. None of these theories is proven.

In Latin, virgō did not exclusively mean sexually inexperienced. It meant 'a young woman, a maiden.' The Vestal Virgins of Rome were required to remain chaste during their thirty years of service, but the word virgō in other contexts could simply mean 'a girl, an unmarried young woman.' The sexual meaning was present but not exclusive. Latin had other words for sexual inexperience.

Christianity made virginity a theological category. The Virgin Mary — Virgo Maria — became the central female figure of Western Christianity. Virginity was elevated from a physical state to a spiritual one, from a temporary condition of youth to a permanent moral achievement. The word absorbed the theology. In post-Christian European languages, virgin primarily means 'sexually inexperienced,' and the 'young woman' meaning has been displaced.

Modern English uses virgin in both the old and new senses. Virgin forest (untouched, original). Virgin olive oil (from the first pressing, unrefined). The Virgin Islands (apparently uninhabited when named). In these uses, virgin means 'first, untouched, in original condition' — closer to the possible Latin root virga (fresh, green) than to the sexual meaning.