Virgo

symbol ♍︎

1. astronomyA constellation in the zodiac, traditionally figured in the shape of a maiden holding an ear of wheat (represented by the bright binary star Spica).

   Now, masters, draw. [They shoot.] O, well said, Lucius! Good boy, in Virgo’s lap.

   c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]

   2 more examples

   Virgo is represented as a woman with a branch in her right hand, and some ears of corn in her left hand.

   1893, E. W. Bullinger, Witness of the Stars, London: The author, page 29

   The constellation Virgo is a Y-shaped group, of which α, the star at the foot, is the well-known Spica, a star of the first magnitude. [...] The whole resembles more a cup than the human figure; but when we remember the symbolic meaning of the cup, that seems to be an obvious explanation of the name Virgo, which the constellation has borne since the earliest times.

   1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 30

   Synonyms: Maid, Maiden, Virgin

2. astrologyThe zodiac sign for the virgin, ruled by Mercury, that covers August 23 – September 23 (tropical astrology) or September 16 – October 15 (sidereal astrology).
3. spacenatural sciencesA large-scale gravitational wave detector located in Pisa, Italy.

   1 more example

   In February 2016, scientists announced that the first direct observation of gravitational waves had been made using just the two LIGO detectors. That was followed by a second announcement in June 2016. Because Virgo was undergoing an extensive upgrade, it was not operating during these first observations.

   2017 October 1, Don Lincoln, “Nobel Prize-winning detectors revealed a cosmic cataclysm”, in CNN

4. A surname.

plural Virgos

1. Someone with a Virgo star sign.

   Synonyms: Virgoan