LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

virga

virga f (genitive virgae)
Classical[ˈwɪr.ɡa]Ecclesiastical[ˈvir.ɡa]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. femininetwig, young shoot
  2. femininerod, switch for flogging.
    flagellum equō et cāmus asinō et virgā dorsō inprūdentiumA whip for a horse, and a snaffle for an ass, and a rod for the back of fools. (trans.: Douay-Rheims Bible)4th century CE, Jerome of Stridon (St. Jerome), Vulgate, Proverbs 26:3
  3. femininestaff, walking stick
    8 AD . Fasti, Publius Ovidius Naso, Liber II, 703-704. Illic Tarquinius mandata latentia nati Accipit, et virga lilia summa metit. There Tarquinius is receiving secret mandates of the son And is knocking down with staff the tops of lilies.
  4. femininewand (magical)
    Tum virgam capit: Hāc animās ille ēvocat Orcō pallentīs, aliās sub Tartara trīstia mittit, [...].Then [Mercury] takes up his wand: With this he calls pale souls from Orcus, or sends others down to sorrowful Tartarus, …. (Specifically, the caduceus that Mercury uses in his role as psychopompus.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.242–243
  5. Late LatinMedieval Latinfemininefigurativelypenis
    sunt etiam singularia in medio constituta ne in unam partem praeiudicialiter vergentia alteram competenti decore nudarent: nasus, os, guttur, pectus, umbilicus, et genitalium virga descendens, quae laudabilia et honora monstrantur quando in medio locata consistunt.These [body parts] are one by one placed in the middle, because if they converged to the same place, one would deprive the honour of another part. The nose, mouth, throat, chest, navel, and the rod of the genitals show their merit and excellence by being placed in the middle.ca. 540, Cassiodorus, On the Soul
  6. Medieval Latinfemininea unit of measurement, a rod; of either 3 feet in length, or 16½ feet, also known as a pole or perch; a square of land of the same length and breadth

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

rāmus tenuis et rēctus; magister virgam habet — discipulī eam timent!
virga -ae f — in Mille Verba, Artēs et Litterae
bacillum tenue dīvīnum
virga -ae (f) — in Aeneis, ch. 10

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Rami · Ramalia · Virga · Termes · Turio · Surculus · Talea · Sarmentum · Stolo · Virgultum · Fruticetum

1. Rami and ramalia are the boughs of a tree; rami (from ῥάκος) the living, green boughs, θαλλοί; ramalia, the withered dry boughs. Whereas virga, termes, turio, surculus, talea, sarmentum, and stolo, are only twigs; virga, and the words of rare occurrence, termes olivæ, and turio lauri, without any accessory reference, like κλάδος, κλών, κλῆμα; surculus and talea as members and offspring of the tree, which as scions and shoots should be subservient to the parent-stock, like ὀρσός; sarmentum and stolo, as mere off-shoots of the tree, are set aside, and cast away; sarmentum (from sarpere, ἅρπη,) as a completely useless twig; stolo, as at the same time an injurious sucker. 2. Virgultum is a place grown over with bushes, and not bare; fruticetum (from frutices) a place grown over with shrubs, and not passable. (v. 283.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativevirgavirgae
genitivevirgaevirgārum
dativevirgaevirgīs
accusativevirgamvirgās
ablativevirgāvirgīs
vocativevirgavirgae

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

virgis caedere
to beat with rods.

virga, ae, f. root varg; v. virgo,
I. a slender green branch, a twig, sprout, switch, rod.
I. Lit.
A. In gen., Cato, R. R. 101; Varr. R. R. 1, 59, 4; Plin. 17, 18, 30, § 136; 24, 19, 112, § 172; Verg. G. 1, 266; Ov. M. 3, 29; 11, 109.—
B. In partic.
1. A graft, scion, set, Ov. M. 14, 630.—
2. A limetwig, Ov. M. 15, 474.—
3. A rod, switch for flogging, Plaut. Capt. 3, 4, 117; id. Bacch. 4, 6, 10; id. Cas. 5, 4, 24; for governing horses, etc.: virga quā ad regendum equum usus est, Front. 4, 5, 16; Val. Max. 3, 2, 12: nobilis equus umbrā quoque virgae regitur, Curt. 7, 4, 18; Mart. 9, 22, 14; cf. Luc. 4, 683; Juv. 3, 317.—Of the small rods in the fasces of the lictors, with which criminals were scourged, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 62, § 161; Plin. 7, 43, 44, § 136.—Hence, poet., for fasces, as a designation of one of the higher magistrates, Ov. Tr. 5, 6, 32; Stat. S. 1, 2, 47; Mart. 8, 66, 4.—
4. A wand, a staff, as a support, Liv. 45, 12; Ov. F. 2, 706.—
5. A magic wand, Verg. A. 7, 190; Ov. M. 14, 278; 14, 295; 14, 300.—
II. Transf.
A. A stalk of the flax-plant, Plin. 19, 1, 3, § 17.—
B. A streak, stripe in the heavens, a water-gall, Sen. Q. N. 1, 9 and 10.—
C. A colored stripe in a garment: purpureae, Ov. A. A. 3, 269. —
D. A twig or branch of the ancestral tree, Juv. 8, 7.—
E. Genitalium, = membrum virile, Cassiod. Anim, 9.

Origins

Uncertain. Traditionally, the term is derived from earlier *wizgā, itself from Proto-Indo-European *wis-g-, an extension of *weys-. De Vaan suggests a possible connection with Germanic forms such as Old Norse visk or Old English wisc, perhaps also entailing a PIE form of the shape *wis-g-. The term might be related to Latin vireō and virāgō.

Descendants
  • Catalanverga
  • Englishvirga
  • Italianverga
  • Frenchverguefrom Norman vèrgue
  • Occitanvèrga
  • Englishvergefrom Old French verge
  • Frenchvergefrom Old French verge
  • Portugueseverga
  • Portuguesevirga
  • Romanianvargă

Quick answers

What does virga mean in Latin?
virga, a noun, means “twig, young shoot; rod, switch for flogging.; staff, walking stick”.
What is the genitive of virga?
The genitive singular is virgae. virga is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce virga?
In classical Latin, [ˈwɪr.ɡa]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈvir.ɡa].