Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Chaste; pure; virginal: Describing a state of sexual purity, innocence, or virginity, often in a moral or ceremonial sense.
   • Of or relating to Vesta or her worship: Pertaining to the Roman goddess Vesta, the hearth, or the priestesses who served her.

2. Noun:

   • A chaste woman; a virgin: A woman who has maintained her virginity.
   • A priestess of Vesta: Specifically, one of the virgin priestesses in ancient Rome who tended the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta.

Examples

• Adjective:

  • The novel's heroine was portrayed with a vestal innocence.
  • The ceremony had a vestal quality, emphasizing purity and devotion.

• Noun:

  • In ancient Rome, a vestal took a vow of chastity for 30 years.
  • She was regarded as a vestal in her small, traditional community.

Advanced Usage

• "Vestal virtue": A phrase emphasizing extreme chastity or moral purity.
  • The knight swore to protect the queen's vestal virtue.

Variants and Related Words

• Vestal Virgin (n): The specific term for the priestesses of Vesta in ancient Rome.
  • A Vestal Virgin who broke her vow of chastity could be buried alive.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Chaste, pure, virginal, immaculate, undefiled.
• Noun: Virgin, maiden, celibate, priestess (of Vesta).

Related Phrases

• "Vestal fire": The sacred fire kept burning in the Temple of Vesta; symbolically, a pure or eternal flame.
  • They kept the vestal fire of their tradition burning for centuries.

Adjective

1. in a state of sexual virginity
   • pure and vestal modesty
   • a spinster or virgin lady
   • men have decreed that their women must be pure and virginal
2. of or relating to Vesta
   • vestal virgin

Noun

1. a chaste woman