: a canal in a female mammal that leads from the uterus to the external orifice of the genital canal
2
: a canal that is similar in function or location to the vagina and occurs in various animals other than mammals
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from New Latin, going back to Latin vāgīna "scabbard, sheath," of uncertain origin
Note: Latin vāgīna as an anatomical term does not appear to be earlier than the sixteenth century, though Roman use of the word as a sexual metaphor is as old as Plautus's comedy Pseudolus ("… quom tu ibas simul, conveniebatne in vaginam tuum machaera militis?" - "… when you were going with him, did the soldier's sword fit in your scabbard?"). Latin vāgīna has been compared with Lithuanian vóžti "to close with a lid or cover, shut" (from Indo-European *u̯eh2ǵ-?), though a link is doubtful given the vague sense connection and lack of other comparanda. According to Ernout and Meillet (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots, fourth edition, 1959), "undoubtedly a borrowed technical term" ("terme technique sans doute emprunté").