Lausiac History ch 6-7

Note: The translator uses the word “spinster” in a peculiar way here and throughout. Here is the note from the vocabulary:

“The word usually translated virgin (parthenos) is very confusing, because it has a variety of meanings in patristic Greek: virgo intacta, a young woman, a female monk (nun), a single woman of any age, a chaste person (of either sex), a religious widow, and so forth. As it is by no means always clear which meaning is intended, the word spinster has been resurrected to represent it. Sometimes the precise meaning can be discerned from the context, but not always.”