vestal

vestal is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 2 senses, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 35 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.(Rom. Antiq.) A virgin consecrated to Vesta, and to the service of watching the sacred fire, which was to be perpetually kept burning upon her altar. Note: The Vestals were originally four, but afterward six, in number. Their term of service lasted thirty years, the period of admission being from the sixth to the tenth year of the candidate's age.
  2. 2.A virgin; a woman pure and chaste; also, a nun. How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! Pope.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is vestal.

Sources

  • Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
  • Synonyms: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
  • Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/word/vestal
  • Steward: Jason Burns