virgal

English

Etymology

From Latin virgālis or virga +‎ -al.

Adjective

virgal

1. (rare, possibly obsolete) Made of twigs or rods.
   • 1732, Henry Fielding, The Complete Works of Henry Fielding, page 115:

     [...] lift the virgal rod, / That hangman you so narrowly escaped!

   • 1882, George Augustus Sala, America Revisited: From the Bay of New York to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Lake Michigan to the Pacific, page 37:

     The terrible "Croquemitaine" and his frightful spouse flourish their virgal sceptres to the terror of insubordinate juveniles - French juveniles be it understood; young America would laugh "Croquemitaine" and all his following to scorn.