Virtue - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: Virtue

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

vir·tue

Audio Help [vur-choo] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.

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

3.	chastity; virginity: to lose one's virtue.

4.	a particular moral excellence. Compare cardinal virtues, natural virtue, theological virtue.

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. Compare angel (def. 1).

8.	manly excellence; valor.

—Idioms

9.	by or in virtue of, by reason of; because of: to act by virtue of one's legitimate authority.

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

[Origin: 1175–1225; alter. (with i < L) of ME vertu < AF, OF < L virtūt- (s. of virtūs) maleness, worth, virtue, equiv. to vir man (see virile) + -tūt- abstract n. suffix

]

—Related forms

vir·tue·less, adjective

vir·tue·less·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. See goodness. 2. probity, integrity.

—Antonyms 1. vice.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Virtue

To learn more about Virtue visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

vir·tue Audio Help (vûr'chōō) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness.
2. An example or kind of moral excellence: the virtue of patience.
Chastity, especially in a woman.
A particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial quality; advantage: a plan with the virtue of being practical.
Effective force or power: believed in the virtue of prayer.
virtues Christianity The fifth of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology.
Obsolete Manly courage; valor.

[Middle English vertu, from Old French, from Latin virtūs, manliness, excellence, goodness, from vir, man; see wī-ro- in Indo-European roots.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
virtue

c.1225, "moral life and conduct, moral excellence," vertu, from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. vertu, from L. virtutem (nom. virtus) "moral strength, manliness, valor, excellence, worth," from vir "man" (see virile). Phrase by virtue of (c.1230) preserves alternate M.E. sense of "efficacy." Wyclif Bible has virtue where K.J.V. uses power. The seven cardinal virtues (c.1320) were divided into the natural (justice, prudence, temperance, fortitude) and the theological (hope, faith, charity). To make a virtue of a necessity (c.1374) translates L. facere de necessitate virtutem. [Jerome]

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

virtue
noun
1.	the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong
2.	any admirable quality or attribute; "work of great merit" [syn: merit] [ant: demerit]
3.	morality with respect to sexual relations
4.	a particular moral excellence

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
virtue1 [ˈvəːtʃuː] noun

a good moral quality
Example: Honesty is a virtue.

Arabic:	فَضيلَه
Chinese (Simplified):	美德
Chinese (Traditional):	美德
Czech:	ctnost
Danish:	dyd
Dutch:	deugd
Estonian:	voorus
Finnish:	hyve
French:	vertu
German:	die Tugend
Greek:	προτέρημα, αρετή
Hungarian:	erény
Icelandic:	dyggð
Indonesian:	kebajikan
Italian:	virtù

Japanese:	美徳
Korean:	미덕, 선
Latvian:	tikums
Lithuanian:	dorybė
Norwegian:	dyd
Polish:	cnota
Portuguese (Brazil):	virtude
Romanian:	virtute
Russian:	добродетель
Slovak:	cnosť
Slovenian:	vrlina
Spanish:	virtud
Swedish:	dygd
Turkish:	erdem, fazilet

virtue2 [ˈvəːtʃuː] noun

a good quality
Example: The house is small, but it has the virtue of being easy to clean.

Arabic:	ميزَه حَسَنَه
Chinese (Simplified):	优点
Chinese (Traditional):	優點
Czech:	výhoda
Danish:	fordel
Dutch:	voordeel
Estonian:	eelis
Finnish:	etu
French:	avantage
German:	der Vorzug
Greek:	προτέρημα, προσόν
Hungarian:	érték
Icelandic:	kostur
Indonesian:	kebaikan
Italian:	vantaggio

Japanese:	長所
Korean:	장점, 가치
Latvian:	labums; priekšrocība
Lithuanian:	privalumas
Norwegian:	fortrinn
Polish:	zaleta
Portuguese (Brazil):	virtude
Portuguese (Portugal):	virtude
Romanian:	avantaj
Russian:	достоинство
Slovak:	prednosť, výhoda
Slovenian:	prednost
Spanish:	virtud
Swedish:	fördel
Turkish:	üstünlük avantaj

virtue3 [ˈvəːtʃuː] noun

goodness of character etc
Example: She is a person of great virtue.

Arabic:	عِفَّه، طَهارَه
Chinese (Simplified):	贞操
Chinese (Traditional):	貞操
Czech:	poctivost
Danish:	god egenskab
Dutch:	deugdzaamheid
Estonian:	vooruslikkus
Finnish:	hyveellisyys
French:	vertu, mérite
German:	die Rechtschaffenheit
Greek:	αρετή
Hungarian:	erkölcsi tisztaság
Icelandic:	verðleiki, kostur
Indonesian:	watak baik
Italian:	virtù

Japanese:	貞節
Korean:	덕, 덕성; 정숙
Latvian:	laba rakstura īpašība; labs raksturs
Lithuanian:	dorumas
Norwegian:	karakterstyrke
Polish:	prawość
Portuguese (Brazil):	virtude
Portuguese (Portugal):	virtude
Romanian:	merit
Russian:	добродетель
Slovak:	dobrá vlastnosť, bezúhonnosť, počestnosť
Slovenian:	krepost
Spanish:	virtud
Swedish:	dygd
Turkish:	meziyet, haslet