Word.ws English Dictionary

virga

UK/ˈvɜːɡə/

virga noun: a type of note used in plainsong notation, having a tail and representing a single tone.

Noun

virga (countable and uncountable, plural virgas or virgae)

  1. A type of note used in plainsong notation, having a tail and representing a single tone.
  2. (countable) A streak of rain or snow that is dissipated in falling and does not reach the ground, commonly appearing descending from a cloud layer.
    • Strong gusts of wind buffeted the train, and ghostly virga of ice followed it through the night.2003, Erik Larson, “Pilgrimage”, in The Devil in the White City, Vintage Books, page 78
  3. (countable, measurement) A unit of length: a rod, pole or perch (5½ yards); or a unit of area: a square rod, pole or perch.

Proper noun capitalized: Virga

Virga (plural Virgas)

  1. A female given name from Italian.
  2. A surname from Italian.

Synonyms of virga

Forms of virga

Noun
pluralvirgas
pluralvirgae
Proper noun
pluralVirgas

Origin of virga

Borrowed from Latin virga (“rod”). Doublet of verge.

Borrowed from Italian Virga.

Words formed from virga

Questions about virga

What does virga mean?
Virga means a type of note used in plainsong notation, having a tail and representing a single tone.
What part of speech is virga?
Virga can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce virga?
Virga is pronounced /ˈvɜːɡə/ (UK).
What is the plural of virga?
The plural of virga is virgas.

Words near virga in the dictionary

  1. virescent
  2. virescently
  3. vireton
  4. viretons
  5. Virg.
  6. virga
  7. virgae
  8. virgal
  9. virgalieu
  10. virgalieus
  11. virgas

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: virga (page history and authors); Virga (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “virga.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/virga. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.