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Webster 1913 Edition

Virtue

Vir′tue

(?; 135)
,
Noun.
[OE.
vertu
, F.
vertu
, L.
virtus
strength, courage, excellence, virtue, fr.
vir
a man. See
Virile
, and cf.
Virtu
.]
1.
Manly strength or courage; bravery; daring; spirit; valor.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Built too strong
For force or
virtue
ever to expugn.
Chapman.
2.
Active quality or power; capacity or power adequate to the production of a given effect; energy; strength; potency; efficacy;
as, the
virtue
of a medicine
.
Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that
virtue
had gone out of him, turned him about.
Mark v. 30.
A man was driven to depend for his security against misunderstanding, upon the pure
virtue
of his syntax.
De Quincey.
The
virtue
of his midnight agony.
Keble.
3.
Energy or influence operating without contact of the material or sensible substance.
She moves the body which she doth possess,
Yet no part toucheth, but by
virtue’s
touch.
Sir. J. Davies.
4.
Excellence; value; merit; meritoriousness; worth.
I made
virtue
of necessity.
Chaucer.
In the Greek poets, . . . the economy of poems is better observed than in Terence, who thought the sole grace and
virtue
of their fable the sticking in of sentences.
B. Jonson.
5.
Specifically, moral excellence; integrity of character; purity of soul; performance of duty.
Virtue
only makes our bliss below.
Pope.
If there's Power above us,
And that there is all nature cries aloud
Through all her works, he must delight in
virtue
.
Addison.
6.
A particular moral excellence;
as, the
virtue
of temperance, of charity, etc
.
“The very virtue of compassion.”
Shak.
“Remember all his virtues.”
Addison.
7.
Specifically: Chastity; purity; especially, the chastity of women; virginity.
H. I believe the girl has
virtue
.
M. And if she has, I should be the last man in the world to attempt to corrupt it.
Goldsmith.
8.
pl.
One of the orders of the celestial hierarchy.
Thrones, dominations, princedoms,
virtues
, powers.
Milton.
Cardinal virtues
.
See under
Cardinal
,
Adj.
–
In virtue of
, or
By virtue of
,
through the force of; by authority of.
“He used to travel through Greece by virtue of this fable, which procured him reception in all the towns.”
Addison.
“This they shall attain, partly in virtue of the promise made by God, and partly in virtue of piety.”
Atterbury.
–
Theological virtues
,
the three virtues, faith, hope, and charity. See
1 Cor. xiii. 13.

Webster 1828 Edition

Virtue

VIRTUE

,
Noun.
vur'tu. [L. virtus, from vireo, or its root. See Worth.] The radical sense is strength, from straining, stretching, extending. This is the primary sense of L. vir, a man.]
1.
Strength; that substance or quality of physical bodies, by which they act and produce effects on other bodies. In this literal and proper sense, we speak of the virtue or virtues of plants in medicine, and the virtues of drugs. In decoctions, the virtues of plants are extracted. By long standing in the open air, the virtues are lost.
2.
Bravery valor. This was the predominant signification of virtus among the Romans.
Trust to thy single virtue.
[This sense is nearly or quite obsolete.]
3.
Moral goodness; the practice of moral duties and the abstaining from vice, or a conformity of life and conversation to the moral law. In this sense, virtue may be, and in many instances must be, distinguished from religion. The practice of moral duties merely from motives of convenience, or from compulsion, or from regard to reputation, is virtue, as distinct from religion. The practice of moral duties from sincere love to God and his laws, is virtue and religion. In this sense it is true,
That virtue only makes our bliss below.
Virtue is nothing but voluntary obedience to truth.
4.
A particular moral excellence; as the virtue of temperance, of chastity, of charity.
Remember all his virtues.
5.
Acting power; something efficacious.
Jesus, knowing that virtue had gone out of him, turned - Mark 3.
6.
Secret agency; efficacy without visible or material action.
She moves the body which she doth possess,
Yet no part toucheth, but by virtue's touch.
7.
Excellence; or that which constitutes value and merit.
- Terence, who thought the sole grace and virtue of their fable, the sticking in of sentences.
8.
One of the orders of the celestial hierarchy.
Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers.
9.
Efficacy; power.
He used to travel through Greece by virtue of this fable, which procured him reception in all the towns.
10.
Legal efficacy or power; authority. A man administers the laws by virtue of a commission.
In virtue, in consequence; by the efficacy or authority.
This they shall attain, partly in virtue of the promise of God, and partly in virtue of piety.

Definition 2024

virtue

virtue

English

Alternative forms

Noun

virtue ‎(countable and uncountable, plural virtues)

  1. (obsolete) The inherent power of a god, or other supernatural being. [13th-19th c.]
  2. The inherent power or efficacy of something (now only in phrases). [from 13th c.]
    • 2011, "The autumn of the patriarchs", The Economist, 17 Feb 2011:
      many Egyptians still worry that the Brotherhood, by virtue of discipline and experience, would hold an unfair advantage if elections were held too soon.
  3. (uncountable) Accordance with moral principles; conformity of behaviour or thought with the strictures of morality; good moral conduct. [from 13th c.]
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, XV.1:
      There are a set of religious, or rather moral, writers, who teach that virtue is the certain road to happiness, and vice to misery, in this world.
  4. A particular manifestation of moral excellence in a person; an admirable quality. [from 13th c.]
    • 1766, Laurence Sterne, Sermon XLIV:
      Some men are modest, and seem to take pains to hide their virtues; and, from a natural distance and reserve in their tempers, scarce suffer their good qualities to be known [...].
  5. Specifically, each of several qualities held to be particularly important, including the four cardinal virtues, the three theological virtues, or the seven virtues opposed to the seven deadly sins. [from 14th c.]
    • 1813, John Fleetwood, The Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ:
      The divine virtues of truth and equity are the only bands of friendship, the only supports of society.
  6. An inherently advantageous or excellent quality of something or someone; a favourable point, an advantage. [from 14th c.]
    • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:
      There were divers other plants, which I had no notion of or understanding about, that might, perhaps, have virtues of their own, which I could not find out.
    • 2011, The Guardian, Letter, 14 Mar 2011
      One virtue of the present coalition government's attack on access to education could be to reopen the questions raised so pertinently by Robinson in the 1960s [...].
  7. A creature embodying divine power, specifically one of the orders of heavenly beings, traditionally ranked above angels and below archangels. [from 14th c.]
    • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book X:
      Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers; / For in possession such, not only of right, / I call ye, and declare ye now [...].
  8. (uncountable) Specifically, moral conduct in sexual behaviour, especially of women; chastity. [from 17th c.]
    • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice:
      though she did not suppose Lydia to be deliberately engaging in an elopement without the intention of marriage, she had no difficulty in believing that neither her virtue nor her understanding would preserve her from falling an easy prey.

Synonyms

  • douth
  • See Wikisaurus:goodness

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

Translations

External links

  • virtue in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • virtue in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Etymology

From Middle English vertu, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman [Term?] and Old French vertu, Middle French vertu, from Latin virtus ‎(“manliness, bravery, worth, moral excellence”), from vir ‎(“man”). See virile.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈvəː.tjuː/, /ˈvəː.tʃuː/

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