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Virility
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Look up <i>virility</i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. <p>Virility (from the Latin <i>virilitas</i>, manhood or virility, derived from Latin <i>vir</i>, man) refers to any of a wide range of <a href="/facts/Masculinity/lp3LFyK4">masculine</a> characteristics viewed positively. Virile means "marked by strength or force". Virility is commonly associated with vigour, <a href="/facts/Health/yzPVrjTs">health</a>, sturdiness, and constitution, especially in the fathering of children. In this last sense, virility is to men as fertility is to women. <i>Virile</i> has become obsolete in referring to a "nubile" young woman, or "a maid that is Marriageable or ripe for a Husband, or Virill". </p><p>Historically, masculine attributes such as <a href="/facts/Beard/YaURfzmS">beard</a> growth have been seen as signs of virility and leadership (for example in <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egypt/BDsEGK4g">ancient Egypt</a> and <a href="/facts/Greece/lqHw8bTB">Greece</a>). </p>