What does virgae mean?
Virgae is the plural of virga and denotes streaks or shafts of precipitation that lose their substance before reaching the ground. In practice, the best-known examples are rain shafts that descend from a storm but evaporate in dry or unsaturated air. They may appear as visible curtains or streaks beneath a cloud, sometimes reaching almost to the surface before disappearing, and they can be detected by radar even when little or no rain is observed. Meteorologists distinguish such precipitation from ordinary showers that actually reach the ground. The term is specialized but useful because it names a recognizable atmospheric phenomenon rather than treating every distant shaft of rain as completed rainfall. Although virgae is the traditional plural, the form virgas is also accepted in modern English. Knowing the word can also sharpen a weather report: a storm may produce virgae without delivering measurable precipitation at the observer's location.
noun (plural)The plural of virga: falling streaks or shafts of precipitation, especially rain, that evaporate before reaching the ground.
- Plural of virga: streaks or shafts of precipitation, especially rain, that evaporate before reaching the ground.
"The radar image showed virgae descending from the storm but evaporating before they reached the fields."
"A band of virgae crossed the dry plain, leaving no rain behind."
"The meteorologist explained that the apparent curtains were virgae rather than showers reaching the observers."
Virgae is already plural and denotes precipitation shafts that evaporate before reaching the ground; virgas is an accepted alternative plural.
"Several virgae appeared beneath the storm."
Some showers tease the ground but vanish in midair—the meteorologist calls those falling curtains virgae.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of virgae
The word comes through Latin virga, meaning “rod,” “twig,” or “streak,” whose rod-like imagery suits a narrow shaft of precipitation. The ending in -ae reflects the Latin plural pattern, although English also commonly uses the form virgas. English words such as verge and virgule, and the derivative virgate, ultimately share the same Latin base.
How virgae is actually used
Chiefly a meteorological term. Virgae is the traditional plural of virga, although virgas is also accepted. The defining feature is that the precipitation does not reach the ground.
Easily confused with virgae
Virga is the singular form, while virgae is its plural; both can refer to precipitation that evaporates before reaching the ground.