virtue

[vur-choo]

noun

1. moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.

   Antonyms: vice

2. conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude.

   Synonyms: integrity, probity

3. chastity; virginity.

   to lose one's virtue.

4. a particular moral excellence.

5. a good or admirable quality or property.

   the virtue of knowing one's weaknesses.

6. effective force; power or potency.

   a charm with the virtue of removing warts.

7. virtues, an order of angels.

8. manly excellence; valor.

virtue

/ -tʃuː, ˈvɜːtjuː /

noun

1. the quality or practice of moral excellence or righteousness

2. a particular moral excellence

   the virtue of tolerance

3. any of the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) or theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity)

4. any admirable quality, feature, or trait

5. chastity, esp in women

6. archaic,  an effective, active, or inherent power or force

7. on account of or by reason of

8. to acquiesce in doing something unpleasant with a show of grace because one must do it in any case

Other Word Forms

• virtueless adjective
• virtuelessness noun
• nonvirtue noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of virtue¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; alteration (with i from Latin ) of Middle English vertu, from Anglo-French, Old French from Latin virtūt-, stem of virtūs “maleness, worth, virtue,” equivalent to vir “man” + -tūs, abstract noun suffix; virile

Word History and Origins

Origin of virtue¹

C13: vertu, from Old French, from Latin virtūs manliness, courage, from vir man

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. make a virtue of necessity, to make the best of a difficult or unsatisfactory situation.

2. by / in virtue of, by reason of; because of.

   to act by virtue of one's legitimate authority.

see by virtue of; make a virtue of necessity.

Synonym Study

See goodness.

Example Sentences

The web of their lives “is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together,” to filch from Shakespeare, and Venable combines virtues and vices in unexpected patterns.

From Los Angeles Times

Sacrifice is no longer the highest virtue; freedom is.

From BBC

For example, some tradwives will justify the virtue of a large family by alluding to the importance of maintaining a white, Christian majority in the United States.

From Salon

They share a common history, a social vocabulary, an obsession with the automobile and, until recently, an almost genetic belief in the virtue of growth.

From Los Angeles Times

When he eventually signed on for a superhero film, it was, fittingly, alongside Captain America, that upright paragon of virtue — and Redford played the villain.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• advantage 
• character 
• ethic 
• excellence 
• faith 
• generosity 
• goodness 
• ideal 
• kindness 
• love 
• merit 
• morality 
• purity 
• quality 
• rectitude 
• righteousness 
• value