vestal
Definitions
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School of the Vestal Virgins -
WordNet 3.6
- adj vestal 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"
- adj vestal of or relating to Vesta "vestal virgin"
- n vestal a chaste woman
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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- Vestal (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.
- Vestal A virgin; a woman pure and chaste; also, a nun. "How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!"
- a Vestal Of or pertaining to Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth; hence, pure; chaste.
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
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- vestal Of or pertaining to Vesta, the classical goddess of the sacred fire and of the household and the state.
- vestal Pertaining to or characteristic of a vestal virgin or a nun.
- n vestal Among the ancient Romans, a virgin consecrated to Vesta and to the service of watching the sacred fire, which was kept perpetually burning upon her altar. The vestals were at first four in number, afterward six. They entered the service of the goddess at from six to ten years of age, their term of service lasting thirty years. They were then permitted to retire and to marry, but few did so, for, as vestals, they were treated with great honor, and had important public privileges. Their persons were inviolable, any offense against them being punished with death, and they were treated in all their relations with the highest distinction and reverence. A vestal who broke her vow of chastity was immured alive in an underground vault amid public monrning. There were very few such instances; in one of them, under Domitian, the chief of the vestals was put to death under a false charge trumped up by the emperor.
- n vestal Hence A virgin; a woman of spotless chastity; sometimes, a virgin who devotes her life entirely to the service of religion; a nun; a religieuse.
- n vestal In entomology: The geometrid moth Sterrha sacraria: popularly so called in England, A gossamer-winged butterfly; any member of the Vestales.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
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- adj Vestal pertaining to or consecrated to the service of Vesta: chaste: pure
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Quotations
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“How happy is the blameless vestal's lot? The world forgetting, by the world forgot.”
Etymology
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
L. Vestalis,sc. virgo,): cf. F. vestale,. See Vestal (a.)
Usage
In literature:
The priestesses of Vesta, called Vestales or Vestal Virgins, played a conspicuous part in these festivals.
"Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome" by E.M. Berens
So was a Vestal Virgin.
"Ave Roma Immortalis, Vol. 1" by Francis Marion Crawford
What bride like her Whose Bridegroom is the spouse of vestal souls?
"Legends of the Saxon Saints" by Aubrey de Vere
He didn't leave Addington very often, but he did know what a blaze the vestals of the time keep up.
"The Prisoner" by Alice Brown
Only, do you know, I wouldn't say anything about that little vestal.
"The Paliser case" by Edgar Saltus
Many nations have worshiped virgins, for instance the vestal virgins of the Romans.
"The Sexual Question" by August Forel
Why should I be just a hard-up Vestal Virgin, Stephen, in your honor?
"The Passionate Friends" by Herbert George Wells
What means this tumult in a Vestal's veins?
"Calamities and Quarrels of Authors" by Isaac Disraeli
The year passed, however, without the vestal's surrendering.
"German Problems and Personalities" by Charles Sarolea
Artists and philosophers and those who are apt to handle truth and beauty are, in fact, the vestals of civility.
"Pot-Boilers" by Clive Bell
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In poetry:
And when, for nuptials of the Spring
With Summer, on the vestal thorn
The bridal veil hung flowering,
A cry was heard, and I was born.
With Summer, on the vestal thorn
The bridal veil hung flowering,
A cry was heard, and I was born.
"The Door Of Humility" by Alfred Austin
Adown the village street, as clear
As in one's wakeful mid-day hours,
Beheld I Monica drawing near,
Her vestal lap one crib of flowers.
As in one's wakeful mid-day hours,
Beheld I Monica drawing near,
Her vestal lap one crib of flowers.
"The Door Of Humility" by Alfred Austin
That gentle bosom now is cold,
Where feeling's vestal splendours glow'd;
And crumbling down to common mould,
That heart where love and truth abode.
Where feeling's vestal splendours glow'd;
And crumbling down to common mould,
That heart where love and truth abode.
"On The Death Of A Sister" by James Grahame
Virgin of the vestal flame,
Numa's child so chaste and fair,
Ah! Floronia is thy name!
Goddess of the raven hair;
Weepest thou o'er love denied?
Thou canst ne'er become a bride.
Numa's child so chaste and fair,
Ah! Floronia is thy name!
Goddess of the raven hair;
Weepest thou o'er love denied?
Thou canst ne'er become a bride.
"The Vestal Virgin" by Eloise Alberta Bibb
Science has kept her midnight taper burning
To greet thy coming with its vestal flame;
Friendship has murmured, "When art thou returning?"
"Not yet! Not yet!" the answering message came.
To greet thy coming with its vestal flame;
Friendship has murmured, "When art thou returning?"
"Not yet! Not yet!" the answering message came.
"A Welcome To Dr. Benjamin Apthorp Gould" by Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Ay, no mortal dare come near,"
Thinks Floronia with affright,
"Guarded all these gates are here,
Yet the vision comes in sight,
Sacred are these cloistered walls,
Vestal maids receive no calls.
Thinks Floronia with affright,
"Guarded all these gates are here,
Yet the vision comes in sight,
Sacred are these cloistered walls,
Vestal maids receive no calls.
"The Vestal Virgin" by Eloise Alberta Bibb
In news:
Eliot Spitzer visited Vestal Central High School in Broome County today to welcome students back on their first day of classes, according to the governor's office.
A Vestal man is accused in the theft of excavation equipment from sites in New Hampshire and Virginia.
Hundreds of elementary students in the Vestal School District will be hearing some vital fire safety information over the next few days.
Representatives of the Vestal and Apalachin fire departments will visit the district's five elementary schools as part of Fire Safety Month activities.
Chipotle Mexican Grill is now opened in Vestal , located at 4698 Vestal Parkway East.
Binghamton vs Vestal , Boy's High School Soccer.
Vestal Community Chorus Presents 'Holiday Harmony 2012' on Dec 1.
Vestal, NY (WBNG Binghamton) Many recent graduates have a hard time finding a job right out of college.
Corning Stops Vestal To Force A Playoff.
(WBNG Binghamton) Corning beat Vestal 3-2 on Monday night to force a playoff with Elmira to decide the winner of the STAC West division.
Vestal, NY (WBNG Binghamton) A couple from Vestal, victims of last year's flood, finally receive the phone call they have waiting on for months.
A deer has crashed through a window at Willow Point Nursing Home in Vestal, N.Y.
Born Feb 19, 1932, in Raceland, KY, he was a son of the late Wickliffe E and Vestal Mackie McNabb.
Vestal, NY (WBNG Binghamton) Sophomore Jessica Bump hit a grand slam and drove in 5 runs as the B.U.
Vestal Man Pleads Guilty to First Degree Manslaughter.
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In science:
Now, two changes are expected upon ligand binding: lowering of both rotational freedom and coercivity (Vestal 2004) on the ligand-bound end.
Magnetism, FeS colloids, and Origins of Life
We use the same coloring that Schaal and Vestal used in to establish their lower bounds, but in our less specific situation it is easier to work directly from the meaning of C (m, a) than from algebraic expressions for the ceiling function, as Schaal and Vestal did.
The 2-color Rado number of $x_1+x_2+...+x_{m-1}=ax_m$
In their treatment of upper bounds in , Schaal and Vestal proceeded by fixing the coloring of the element 1 and considering the two possibilities for the coloring of the element 2.
The 2-color Rado number of $x_1+x_2+...+x_{m-1}=ax_m$
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