Also by extension from its primary sense, the idea that a virgin has an emotional "blank slate","The emotional stress of serial non-marriage plays havoc with the possibility of partnering for life." Angela Shanahan, 'Sex revolution robbed us of fertility', The Australian 15 September, 2007. without complications for her potential intimate emotional life with men, leads to the abstraction of unadulterated purity (see below). Hence, virgin can even be used with non-human referents. Unalloyed metal is sometimes described as virgin. Some cocktails can be described as virgin, when lacking the alcoholic admixture. Similarly, olive oil may be called virgin if it contains no refined oil and has an acidity below 2%, or extra-virgin if it comes from a cold pressing with an acidity below .08%.

The last instance also incorporates yet another association of virginity—the notability of its loss. More properly, the association is with the significance of the addition of a new status, rather than a loss. Hence this association is typically found in references to the first instance of a potentially extended series of like events. Just as extra-virgin olive oil is from the first pressing, so a maiden or virgin speech is an incumbent's first address. The same metaphor, using the synonym maiden, is applied to the first or maiden voyage of a ship. A woman's maiden name is the surname she had when she was (presumed to be) a virgin—her first surname. In cricket, a maiden over is an over from which no runs were scored. Maiden Castles are those with the reputation of never having been captured.

Wool can be virgin. Computer systems can be virgin. Unfertilized gametes can be virgin. Females of various species, by analogy with Homo sapiens, if they have never mated, can also be called virgin.

Chastity is a near synonym of virginity, the distinction being that chastity views sexual integrity in terms of faithfulness to a spouse, rather than as absolute inexperience. Sexual jealousy is a recurrent theme throughout the history of literature. Virginity derives its significance from this context, because it distinguishes between unmarried women who have had no sexual partners and those who have.

Etymology

The word virgin comes via Old French virgine from the root form of Latin , genitive lang: virgin-is, meaning literally "maiden" or "virgin"—a sexually intact young woman. The Latin word probably arose by analogy with a suit of lexemes based on lang: vireo, meaning "to be green, fresh or flourishing", mostly with botanic reference—in particular, lang: virga meaning "strip of wood". The first known use of virgin in English comes from an Anglo-Saxon manuscript held at Trinity College, Cambridge.