Thus virago joined pejoratives such as termagant, mannish, amazonian and shrew to describe women who acted aggressively or like men. Modern use of the word virago generally takes the disparaging sense. However, it could also be pejorative, indicating a woman who is masculine to the exclusion of traditional feminine virtues. Historically, this was often positive and reflected heroism and exemplary qualities of masculinity. virile and virtue) to which the suffix -āgō is added, a suffix that creates a new noun of the third declension with feminine grammatical gender. The word comes from the Latin word virāgō ( genitive virāginis) meaning "vigorous maiden" from vir meaning "man" or "man-like" (cf. Francesco Porzio, Monumento alla difesa di Casale, 1897Ī virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. Bronze of a young female warrior in Lombard costume.
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