Astr. [L.: see VIRGIN sb.] (With initial capital.) a. The zodiacal constellation lying between Leo and Libra; the Virgin.
b. The sixth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters about Aug. 20–23.
a. 1000. in Saxon Leechd., III. 244. An þæra tacna ys ʓehaten aries,… fifta leo; syxta uirgo, þæt is mæden.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 121. After Leo Virgo the nexte Of Signes cleped is the sexte.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., II. § 28. Alle signes in thy zodiak fro the heued of aries vnto the ende of virgo.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., IV. iii. 64. Tit. Good Boy in Virgoes lap…. Marc. My Lord, I aime a Mile beyond the Moone. Your letter is with Iupiter by this.
c. 1600. W. Fowler, Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 269. Leo [may] lye of al the beastes forlorne, as virgo may with gemini bewar.
1664. Butler, Hud., II. iii. 534. Quoth Wizard, So! In Virgo? Ha! quoth Whachum, No. Has Saturn nothing to do in’t.
1697. Creech, Manilius, II. 70. Against the Crab and Bull the Goat declares, And Virgo too, and Libra feels his Wars.
1771. Encycl. Brit., I. 469/2. In 14 days afterwards, the moon comes to Virgo and Libra, which are the opposite signs to Pisces and Aries.
1787. Burns, Lett. to Moore, 2 Aug. Yet I went on with a high hand with my geometry, till the sun entered Virgo, a month which is always a carnival in my bosom.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVI. 373/1. Virgo,… the sixth constellation in the zodiac…. It is best known by two remarkable stars: the first, Spica (α Virginis);… the other, Prævindemiatrix, or Vindemiatrix (ε Virginis).
1868. Lockyer, Guillemin’s Heavens (ed. 3), 395. This zone … is known under the name of the nebulous regions of Virgo.
