Word of the Day for Wednesday October 26, 2005 virago \vuh-RAH-go; vuh-RAY-go\, noun: 1. A woman of extraordinary stature, strength, and courage. 2. A woman regarded as loud, scolding, ill-tempered, quarrelsome, or overbearing. The intrepid heroines range from Unn the Deep Minded, the Viking virago who colonized Iceland, to Sue Hendrikson, a school dropout who became one of the great experts on amber, fossils and shipwrecks. --Ann Prichard, "Coffee-table: Africa, cathedrals, animals, 'Sue,'" [1]USA Today, November 28, 2001 This virago, this madwoman, finally got to me, and I was subjected to the most rude, the most shocking violence I can remember. --José Limón, [2]An Unfinished Memoir _________________________________________________________ Virago comes from Latin virago, "a man-like woman, a female warrior, a heroine" from vir, "a man." References 1. http://www.usatoday.com/ 2. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0819565059/ref=nosim/lexico Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=virago