Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A measure of surface (corresponding to the ML. terra virgata, measured land). Different areas have been so called, without much uniformity. Compare quotation under holding, 3 .
- In geology, noting a system of faults, the minor members of which branch from a central one as twigs from a bough.
- To branch off, like a twig, or diverge like a system of twigs.
- Having the shape of a wand or rod; slender, straight, and erect: as, a virgate stem; a virgate polyp.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete A yardland, or measure of land varying from fifteen to forty acres.
- adjective (Bot.) Having the form of a straight rod; wand-shaped; straight and slender.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An early
English measure ofland of about 30acres . - adjective
Shaped like arod ;straight ,long andthin . - adjective mycology finely striped, often with dark fibers.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
-
The typical holding, the group of scattered acres cultivated by one man or held by some two or three in common, was known as a "virgate," or by some equivalent term, and although of no universal equality, was more frequently of thirty acres than of any other number.
An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England Edward Potts Cheyney 1904
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The manor of Countisbury rendered geld for half a hide, of which the lord held one virgate and four ploughs, and the villeins held one virgate and six ploughs.
Lynton and Lynmouth A Pageant of Cliff & Moorland F. J. Widgery
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+Cap+ brownish yellow, 1½ to 3 inches broad, convex or nearly plane, viscid or glutinous when moist, often obscurely streaked (virgate).
Among the Mushrooms A Guide For Beginners Caroline A. Burgin
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On three sides the five-virgate field was bounded by a high wall, broken only at one spot by a heavy four-foot wooden gate.
Sir Nigel Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 1906
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We were coming back over the five-virgate field, and the holy subprior was telling us a saintly tale from the life of Saint Gregory, when there came a sudden sound like a rushing torrent, and the foul fiend sprang over the high wall which skirts the water-meadow and rushed upon us with the speed of the wind.
Sir Nigel Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 1906
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Some, holding only a half or a quarter virgate, are spoken of as half or quarter villains.
An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England Edward Potts Cheyney 1904
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Usually one finds on a given manor that ten or fifteen of the villagers have each a virgate of a given number of acres, several more have each a half virgate or a quarter.
An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England Edward Potts Cheyney 1904
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On three sides the five-virgate field was bounded by a high wall, broken only at one spot by a heavy four-foot wooden gate.
Sir Nigel Arthur Conan Doyle 1894
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We were coming back over the five-virgate field, and the holy subprior was telling us a saintly tale from the life of Saint Gregory, when there came a sudden sound like a rushing torrent, and the foul fiend sprang over the high wall which skirts the water-meadow and rushed upon us with the speed of the wind.
Sir Nigel Arthur Conan Doyle 1894
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His usual holding was a virgate of 30 acres of arable, though the virgate differed in size even in the same manors; but in addition to this he would have his meadow land and his share in the common pasture and wood, altogether about 100 acres of land.
qms commented on the word virgate
Old measures make palates alert
At feasts for surveyors of dirt.
They’ll fill up a plate
With hides and virgate
And caruscate cake for desert.
October 14, 2017