Parthenos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term from ancient Greek meaning 'maiden' or 'virgin', often associated with purity and innocence in both a literal and figurative sense
2. Referring to a girl or young woman who has not engaged in sexual relations, commonly emphasizing the social implications of chastity
3. Denoting a state of being unmarried and sexually untouched, frequently used in religious or literary contexts to signify sanctity and virtue

Etymology: Ancient Greek "parthenos" meant simply "maiden" or "young unmarried woman," and it is the root of a famous name: Athena's temple on the Acropolis in Athens, the Parthenon, takes its name from the epithet "Parthenos," the Maiden, given to the goddess. The Greek word has no built-in sense of sanctity or moral purity; those associations grew up around it over time, and the goddess's title is what carried the word into the architectural and mythological vocabulary of later Europe. In English, the word was borrowed directly from Ancient Greek and used mainly in learned and religious writing, where it came to describe a virgin in a strictly physical sense as well as a woman dedicated to chastity. Its meaning therefore narrowed from "young unmarried woman" to "one who has never had sexual relations," a shift that happened gradually as the word moved from everyday Greek speech into the specialised language of the church and of scholarship.

Synonyms: virgin, maiden, nymph, damsel, young woman

Antonyms: married woman, matron, wife