A virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. The word comes from the Latin word virāgō ( genitive virāginis) meaning "vigorous maiden" from vir meaning "man" or "man-like" (cf. virile and virtue ) to which the suffix -āgō is added, a suffix that creates a new noun of the third declension with feminine grammatical gender . Historically, this was often positive and reflected heroism and exemplary qualities of masculinity. However, it could also be pejorative, indicating a woman who is masculine to the exclusion of traditional feminine virtues.
13-431: Modern use of the word virago generally takes the disparaging sense. Thus virago joined pejoratives such as termagant , mannish , amazonian and shrew to describe women who acted aggressively or like men. The word virago has almost always had an association with cultural gender transgression . There are recorded instances of viragos (such as Joan of Arc ) fighting battles, wearing men's clothing, or receiving
26-549: A virile heroism; for example, the British Royal Navy christened at least four warships Virago . The Vulgate Bible, translated by Jerome and others in the 4th century C.E., was an early Latin translation of the Hebrew Bible Old Testament . In Genesis 2:23, Jerome uses the words Vir for man and Virago for "woman" attempting to reproduce a pun on "male" and "female" ( ish and ishah ) that existed in
39-555: A man in ancient Rome (and Greece), including valor and heroism, but also morality and physical strength. Women and non-elite or unheroic men (slaves, servants, craftsmen, merchants) were considered a lesser category, and believed to be less excellent in Roman morality . A woman, however, if exceptional enough could earn the title virago . In doing so, she surpassed the expectations for what was believed possible for her gender , and embodied masculine-like aggression and/or excellence. Virago, then,
52-445: A man's character and desire intercourse with women like men. Standard modern dictionaries define virago as either, in order of definition, (1) a "loud overbearing woman"; a "shrew". or (2) a woman of "great stature, strength, and courage" Thus virago continues to be associated with both the naming of a woman who has either (1) a domineering, abrasive and spiteful manner, or (2) has risen above cultural and gender stereotypes to embody
65-406: A negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism , hostility , or disregard. Sometimes, a term is regarded as pejorative in some social or ethnic groups but not in others or may be originally pejorative but later adopt a non-pejorative sense (or vice versa ) in some or all contexts. The word pejorative
78-539: A pejorative, there remain LGBT individuals who are uncomfortable with having this term applied to them. The use of the racial slur nigger (specifically the - a variant ) by African Americans is often viewed as another act of reclamation, though much like the latter in the LGBT movement, there exists a vocal subset of people with Sub-Saharan African descent that object to the use of the word under any circumstances. List of Latin phrases (V)#vice versa This page
91-408: A single concept, leaping from word to word in a phenomenon known as the euphemism treadmill , for example as in the successive pejoration of the terms bog-house , privy-house , latrine , water closet , toilet , bathroom , and restroom (US English). When a term begins as pejorative and eventually is adopted in a non-pejorative sense, this is called melioration or amelioration . One example
104-491: Is derived from a Late Latin past participle stem of peiorare , meaning "to make worse", from peior "worse". In historical linguistics , the process of an inoffensive word becoming pejorative is a form of semantic drift known as pejoration . An example of pejoration is the shift in meaning of the word silly from meaning that a person was happy and fortunate to meaning that they are foolish and unsophisticated. The process of pejoration can repeat itself around
117-492: Is the shift in meaning of the word nice from meaning a person was foolish to meaning that a person is pleasant. When performed deliberately, it is described as reclamation or reappropriation . Examples of a word that has been reclaimed by portions of the community that it targets is queer , faggot and dyke which began being re-appropriated as a positive descriptor in the early 1990s by activist groups. However, due to its history and – in some regions – continued use as
130-406: The tonsure . Historically, the concept of a virago reaches back into antiquity where Hellenistic philosophy asserted that elite and exceptionally heroic men had virtus ( Greek : ἀνδρεία , romanized : andreia ). Virtus (once again linked to vir , the brave man abiding by society's highest values and ethics as opposed to homo , human being) defined the traits of excellence for
143-509: The Hebrew text. The Vulgate reads: 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
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#1732937279157156-415: 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." Pejorative A pejorative word, phrase, slur , or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing
169-410: Was a title of respect and admiration. In Christianity , a nun or holy woman who had become equal in divinity to male monks through practiced celibacy , exemplary religious practice and devotion, and intact virginity , was considered to have surpassed the limitations of her femaleness and was called virago . Latin writer Firmicus Maternus in the 4th century CE describes virago as women who take on
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