cardinal virtue

noun

1. anything considered to be an important or characteristic virtue.

   Tenacity is his cardinal virtue.

2. Ancient Philosophy.,  cardinal virtues, justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cardinal virtue¹

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Example Sentences

Within a year of each other, Joseph Schumpeter coined the term "Ricardian vice," which you mentioned earlier, and Milton Friedman launched his campaign to revive it as a cardinal virtue.

Read more on Salon

Intelligence, he added, is an area in which political loyalty is not always a cardinal virtue.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Belying his stern image, his first encyclical, the most authoritative form of papal writing, centered on love, one of three treatises he planned to write on the cardinal virtues of love, hope and faith.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Among the cardinal virtues, according to the Stoics, are courage and wisdom.

Read more on Washington Post

"I heard that forgiveness is a cardinal virtue for Hindus," I said.

Read more on Salon