Is there a male counterpart to being a virgin?

Question

Is there a word for a sexually-inexperienced man/boy - like how virgin is for a woman/girl?

I'm from Norway, and here the word svenn is used for males who have yet to sleep with someone. Although jomfru (virgin) is also more and more used on males.

Svenn is also used for a person who's been studying (often a craft) under a master, and will soon become a master himself. I guess apprentice would be a good translation, although a svenn may himself have younger boys beneath him, whom he instructs in the craft.

Svenn is also used in peppersvenn (an unmarried man 30 years old or older), as opposed to peppermø (mø = maid)(an unmarried woman 30 years old or older).

So is there a "male" version of virgin - and perhaps a male-specific word for losing his virginity?

I posted this question today and it might be interesting to you. :) — , Nov 30 '15 at 15:44
Just for your information, you want to use "losing" and not "loosing" here. — nanny, Nov 30 '15 at 19:48
Ironically, I believe the word svenn is cognate to the English word swain, which means a man who is a woman's lover. — psmears, Nov 30 '15 at 19:54
Do you have a source for "svenn" being used for male virgins in Norwegian? The only meanings I've encountered for it before is for it either it being a young man, or a craftsman's apprentice. Googling doesn't turn up anything resembling your definition, and neither does Wikipedia, Store Norske, or www.nob-ordbok.uio.no/ — eirikdaude, Nov 30 '15 at 21:15
at the age of 30 Virgin becomes Wizard for men and for women I assume it's Sorceress — Memor-X, Nov 30 '15 at 21:51
John Locke's attempt to cure Isaac Newton of his virginity failed. "His note to the latter included the charge that Locke "endeavoured to embroil me with woemen"." — Count Iblis, Nov 30 '15 at 22:33
You can also simply google things like "he's a virgin" and "lose his virginity" to see that it's used plenty. — Cascabel, Dec 01 '15 at 01:32
If you want to avoid the female connotation of the word virgin, you can use the term virginal. The man is virginal. — Brandin, Dec 01 '15 at 10:49
@Rathony I know :-D ! I decided to ask in the morning... when i logged-on in the evening, the first question I saw was yours. After reading it, I decided mine was different enough. — Baard Kopperud, Dec 01 '15 at 13:16
@eirikdaude I guess the best example is the use of "peppersvenn" as the male equivalent of "peppermø"... It is a rather obscure usage of the word (and getting more so). — Baard Kopperud, Dec 01 '15 at 13:27
@eirikdaude To add to Baard's reply; See the entry peppersvenn at Språkrådet, which says "old bachelor". — Pål GD, Dec 01 '15 at 13:43
@PålGD That doesn't support "svenn" being synonymous with "virgin" as originally claimed though? According with the definition from etymologisk ordbok it merely means "gammel ungkar" (old bachelor), which (mostly) correlates with the definition for "svenn" from Språlrådet. — eirikdaude, Dec 01 '15 at 13:55
It should be noted that, were it not for the Virgin Mary as depicted in Christian religion, "virgin" would likely be considered to be a mild obscenity. — Hot Licks, Dec 01 '15 at 17:05
Somewhat tangential FYI, but it sounds like svenn might be a better match to journeyman than apprentice, based on the description. — Chris W, Dec 02 '15 at 01:18
@HotLicks: Really? The word has other common, positive uses (virgin snow; extra virgin olive oil). It is in no way an obscenity... — psmears, Dec 02 '15 at 08:14
@psmears: Well, those uses are predated by the Virgin Mary, so we cannot really tell, can we? ;-) — DevSolar, Dec 02 '15 at 14:10
@psmears - You're assuming that those uses would have survived 2000 years without the Church to secure the meaning? — Hot Licks, Dec 02 '15 at 14:32

score 78 · Answer 1 · 2015-12-18T05:33:30.567

78

Virgin is used to refer to a person who has never had sex or a person who has no experience in a particular activity. This person can be male or female.

edited Dec 18 '15 at 05:33

answered Nov 30 '15 at 15:33

20

This is what allows Jeff Dunham to make the joke with Achmed, asking "did they say it would be only female virgins?" – Niet the Dark Absol Nov 30 '15 at 19:13
2

I've occasionally heard the term to mean having had receptive sex rather than just any form of it in certain contexts. K: "I'm not a virgin!" C: "You mean you've lost your virginity or you've taken someone else's? You don't look like the pitchin' kind to me." – zxq9 Dec 01 '15 at 02:21
2

@zxq9 - that quote seems to demonstrate that virgin can mean either way, other wise C wouldn't need to clarify. K has either lost his virginity through some prior sexual relations, or he has taken someone else's, but whether he was giving or receiving, he's no longer a virgin. K seems to make a distinction between losing one's own virginity and taking someone else's. – Johnny Dec 01 '15 at 02:41
11

In the movie, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", the protagonist is not a woman. – WhatRoughBeast Dec 01 '15 at 18:10
@Johnny Another school of thought considers the giving virginity and the receiving virginity to be separate. – Cronax Dec 02 '15 at 13:20
1

@Cronax How do you not lose both when you lose one? – Zack T. Dec 02 '15 at 15:17
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@Cronax - How does one give or receive virginity? One is a virgin by default until the criteria for not being one are met. – Jimbo Jonny Dec 02 '15 at 18:09
@JimboJonny That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying there's a difference between being the receiving party and the giving party. Different sexual acts deal with different virginities. In the case of a man, performing penetration in this case would be different from receiving it. – Cronax Dec 03 '15 at 08:01
Virgin snow has no gender. It refers to snow that is untouched. That you think virginity is about sex just shows how much you think about sex. You pervs : ) – candied_orange Mar 26 '16 at 14:46
@Cronax - better late than never on the reply...anyway: That's not receiving virginity. That's losing virginity by the sexual act known colloquially as "receiving". Nobody received the virginity. The virginity was "taken", perhaps, gone forever. But even that is a specific colloquialism (you can't just substitute other tangentially related words), and has nothing to do with who's penetrating (a woman still "takes" a man's virginity if he is a virgin when they have intercourse). – Jimbo Jonny Jan 05 '22 at 05:34
@JimboJonny You're referring to how one 'loses' their virginity. I'm referring to the virginity itself, which some people hold to have two 'types', as I described. We can debate the original intent of the term virginity all day but if enough people use a word a certain way, it is no longer 'incorrect'. – Cronax Jan 10 '22 at 11:33
@Cronax - You've given no evidence that anyone uses the word that way except for you. Do you have any source for the claim that there is a new common usage for the word where someone is considered to "receive" the "virginity itself" from a sexual act? – Jimbo Jonny Jan 12 '22 at 20:03
@JimboJonny If you're not going to bother reading what I'm saying then I'm not sure I have a way of explaining it to you. Nobody is 'receiving' the virginity itself. – Cronax Jan 13 '22 at 11:08

score 20 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 30 '15 at 19:33

20

In English the word "virgin" has absolutely zero gender requirements. Virgins are virgins, male or female.

It simply means anyone that has not had sexual intercourse. It is quite normal to refer to a male having lost his virginity, or referring to a male virgin, etc.

answered Nov 30 '15 at 19:33

Jimbo Jonny

553

2

It might also be good to mention that this is a modern phenomenon. 'Virgin' meant 'a woman who has not given birth' or simply 'a young woman' in the past. – otakucode Dec 01 '15 at 12:31
2

@otakucode: When? The 13th centrury barely counts, while maiden is a rather different word – Henry Dec 01 '15 at 18:26

ermanen · Answer 3 · 2022-08-06T11:44:20.183

10

A slang term exclusively used for males is cherry-boy (cherry boy). Urbandictionary has many entries for the term also.

Cassell's Dictionary of Slang has the slang term cherry prick also but I've never heard it before.

The terms above are uncommon unlike virgin which is used for both males and females.

Here are the definitions from Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (by Jonathon Green):

Transcription:

cherry-boy n. [1970s+] (US) a male virgin [CHERRY adj. (1)]
cherry prick n. [20C+] a male virgin. [CHERRY adj. (1) + PRICK n. (2)]

They are related to the term cherry meaning a female virgin (from 1920s).

Here is an excerpt about cherry boy and its origin in military slang during World War II in Japan:

Cherry boy⁠—Cheri boi(Chay-ree boy).
So many of the young American GIs who took part in the military Occupation of Japan had had no sexual experience that the term "cherry boy" was one of the first "new words” the GIs learned. Japanese prostitutes delighted at breaking in "cherry boys" and would often service them without large fees (resulting in some GIs faking virginity over and over again). Cherry girl was also used. The Japanese word for a male virgin is dotei (doe-tay). A virgin girl is a shojo (show-joe).

Sex and the Japanese: The Sensual Side of Japan (by Boye De Mente)

edited Aug 06 '22 at 11:44

answered Nov 30 '15 at 15:55

ermanen

62,797

7

Amusing side note - "cherry boy" has been borrowed into Japanese to mean "male virgin" (チェリーボーイ / cherī bōi; this despite Japanese already having the unambiguous word 童貞 dōtei meaning "male virgin"), and is probably more widely understood in Japanese than in English. – senshin Dec 01 '15 at 02:48
2

I've updated my answer further. I'm aware that the terms I offered are uncommon but I considered this question as a more advanced question. It is obvious that virgin is gender-neutral and it can be found in many dictionaries. If the answer is "virgin is gender-neutral" then why all the hassle. I thought OP was interested in other slang terms. – ermanen Dec 01 '15 at 17:43
So that's where the phrase to take someone's cherry comes from? – TRiG Dec 02 '15 at 14:37
1

@TRiG: All related terms come from cherry meaning a female virgin (from 1920s). – ermanen Dec 02 '15 at 15:17
@TRiG the other way around, it comes from an euphemism for rupturing a woman's hymen. – Jon Hanna Dec 02 '15 at 15:51

Centaurus · Answer 4 · 2015-12-01T17:03:32.483

-2

According to the OP, in Norwegian, the word "svenn" has at least three different meanings: an apprentice, a young man who never had intercourse, and an unmarried older man.

"an unmarried man, 30 years or older" as mentioned by the OP, can be referred to as "a celibate" no matter his sexual status.

celibate (noun) - a person who abstains from marriage and sexual relations. (typically, but not always, for a religious reason)

A young man who never experienced sex, as mentioned by Jasper in his answer, is a "virgin". It's the usual word to refer to a young man and can be used for both males and females, any age group. Some related words are: chaste, immaculate and virginal. These are adjectives and the first two are not exactly synonymous with "virgin" (noun).

Edit - "celibate" and "virgin" are not synonyms. A celibate abstains from sexual relations and a virgin never had any.

edited Dec 01 '15 at 17:03

answered Nov 30 '15 at 15:46

Centaurus

50,047

27

-1 Celibate suggests your current lifestyle. You can be celibate without being a virgin – wim Nov 30 '15 at 17:50
24

You can also be a virgin without choosing to be celibate, as I suspect many teenagers would attest. – abligh Nov 30 '15 at 17:53
The "and sexual relations" is implied It's not, really, part of the definition of celibate. – Michael J. Nov 30 '15 at 22:31
1

Did you see the quite relevant comment from smci regarding "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"? There is no age limit on being a virgin. The difference I see between "celibate" and "virgin" is that the former word generally refers to an intentional choice, while the latter simply refers to a state (of never having had sex). – herisson Nov 30 '15 at 22:46
With you latest edits, I can see where you're coming from a bit more, but the question is "Is there a male counterpart to being a virgin?", not "Is there an English counterpart to the Norwegian word svenn?" – herisson Nov 30 '15 at 23:26
2

The correct term is "virginal". The other suggestions of things like "cherry boy" or "cherry prick" may be correct but are using totally the wrong register. "Chaste" is not so good because it implies that you are choosing to abstain for some specific reason. If you are virginal it simply means that you've never had sex. That's it. – Brandin Dec 01 '15 at 10:51
"peppersvenn" and "peppermø" aren't really a 3rd usage, just sub-usage of the 2nd... Like "maid" (young girl, usually a virgin) and "old-maid" (woman, maybe still a virgin, but at least unmarried) - which is pretty much is what "peppermø" means. It's also sort of a Norwegian tradition to give a pepper-shaker as a birthday-gift to someone who's still unmarried at 30, to accent his/her status as a "pepper-mø/svenn" – Baard Kopperud Dec 01 '15 at 13:33
1

"Immaculate" does not mean "never had sex". It means clean, pure, free from fault or error. It can be used in a physical or a moral sense: "I scrubbed the windows until they were immaculately clean" or "Bob is the most upstanding person I know: his character is immaculate". Christians say that Christ was born to a virgin and refer to this as the "immaculate conception", but that's a specific term for a specific event. – Jay Dec 01 '15 at 14:37
@michaelj RE "celibate" Hmm, I looked in several dictionaries and several gave alternate definitions, like 1. abstaining from sex, 2. abstaining from marriage. But in practice, "celibate" is normally used to describe someone who abstains from both marriage and sex for religious or philosophical reasons. I don't think I've ever heard it used for a man who sleeps with hundreds of women but never marries, or a woman, etc. – Jay Dec 01 '15 at 14:41
The distinction I was trying to make is that being celibate implies abstaining from sex, but abstinence from sex is not part of the definition. That part is covered under different moral criteria. From a religious perspective, a man who has taken a vow of celibacy, but then fails and has sex, is still celibate, but has committed another transgression. – Michael J. Dec 01 '15 at 15:01
4

@Jay - "Christians say that Christ was born to a virgin and refer to this as the "immaculate conception"" is a frequently-encountered misunderstanding of "immaculate conception". That actually refers to the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was conceived and born without original sin. In turn, she conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit - but that event is NOT the immaculate conception. – Floris Dec 01 '15 at 19:42
@Brandin: "virginal" is just an adjective derived from "virgin." But "virgin" itself is more commonly used. – herisson Dec 01 '15 at 22:58
@sumelic Yes it is an adjective, but you can trivially translate the usage. E.g. "M. is a virgin." (Honestly it sounds like the person intends that M. is a girl in this statement). -> "M. is virginal." (Now M. could equally well be a man or a woman). – Brandin Dec 02 '15 at 09:29
@floris True. Clumsy of me. Technically one should say "CATHOLICS believe that Mary was born without original sin." Protestants do not. But further discussion on this gets into theology rather than grammar. – Jay Dec 02 '15 at 14:53
@Jay we agree... – Floris Dec 02 '15 at 15:09

Is there a male counterpart to being a virgin?

4 Answers4