Virginals

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of early keyboard instrument featuring strings that produce sound by being plucked rather than struck, often associated with Renaissance and early Baroque music
2. This historic keyboard, characterized by its gentle strings and unique playing technique, emerged during the Renaissance and influenced later musical styles
3. A historical keyboard instrument where strings are plucked to create sound, commonly used during the Renaissance era

Etymology: The English word "virginal" comes from Latin "virginālis", meaning "of a maiden" or "belonging to a virgin", and passed into Middle English through Middle French. Its musical sense is a case of a word meaning one thing becoming the name of something unrelated to its original meaning. The instrument it names is a small, rectangular keyboard, and the likeliest explanation for the name is that young girls were often the ones who played it. The plural "virginals" is the form most commonly used for this instrument, and "virginal" is an alternative form of the same noun. The plucked strings and the mechanism that makes them sound are what set it apart from later keyboards, and it was popular in the Renaissance before being displaced by the spinet and harpsichord-family instruments.

Synonyms: musical instruments, keyboard instruments