virtue
Syllables: vir·tue/ˈvɜːt͡ʃuː//ˈvɝt͡ʃu/
virtue noun: the idea of all that is good or excellent (in every sense of those terms) in a human being, collectively instantiated by a varying number of human traits known as "the virtues", the enumeration of which vary by the many virtue systems which have developed within different cultures, religions, and historical periods.
Noun
virtue (countable and uncountable, plural virtues)
- The idea of all that is good or excellent (in every sense of those terms) in a human being, collectively instantiated by a varying number of human traits known as "the virtues", the enumeration of which vary by the many virtue systems which have developed within different cultures, religions, and historical periods.
- Accordance with moral principles; conformity of behaviour or thought with the strictures of morality; good moral conduct.
- Without virtue, there is no freedom.
- 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.1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 1, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XV
- An attribute of a personality (a "personality trait") which predisposes a person to behaviors resulting in human goodness; an admirable quality.
- The commission of acts by a person which he or she believes to be wrong can cause a diminishment of one or more of the virtues which subsist in the person's personality; in this way such actions may be viewed as significant life events.
- 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 […].1766, Laurence Sterne, Sermon, section XLIV
- A particular manifestation of moral excellence in a person.
- 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.
- Better to be excluded from society than to deny the virtue of citizenship.
- The divine virtues of truth and equity are the only bands of friendship, the only supports of society.1813, John Fleetwood, The Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
- An inherently advantageous or excellent quality of something or someone; a favourable point, an advantage.
- 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.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC
- 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 […].2011, The Guardian, Letter, 14 Mar 2011
- A creature embodying divine power, specifically one of the orders of heavenly beings, traditionally ranked above angels and archangels, and below seraphim and cherubim.
- Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers; / For in possession such, not only of right, / I call ye, and declare ye now […].1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- Specifically, moral conduct in sexual behaviour, especially of women; chastity.
- 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.1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
- The inherent power of a god, or other supernatural being.
- The inherent power or efficacy of something (now only in phrases).
- There was a virtue in the wave;
His limbs, that, stiff with toil,
Dragg’d heavy, from the copious draught receiv’d
Lightness and supple strength.1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and... - Here are the glasses, Meg. But I am afraid that the virtue has gone from them, and now they are only glass. Perhaps they were meant to help once and only on Camazotz.1962, Madeleine L’Engle, “Aunt Beast”, in A Wrinkle in Time, New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books, 1973 printing, →ISBN, page 189
- There was a virtue in the wave;
Proper noun capitalized: Virtue
Virtue (plural Virtues)
- A surname.
virtue meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
virtue in Hindi
- excellence in morals
- सदाचार sadācār, गुण guṇ, अच्छाई acchāī, नेकी nekī
- a good model quality
- बल bal
virtue in Tamil
- excellence in morals
- விருடம் viruṭam
virtue in Marathi
- virtue, righteousness; morality
- धर्म dharma
virtue in Urdu
- excellence in morals
- فَضِیلَت fazīlat, اَچّھائی acchāī, نیکی nekī
More languagesFewer languages
- virtue in Bengali
- সদ্গুণ śodgun, গুণ gun
- virtue in Telugu
- సుగుణం suguṇaṁ
- virtue in Malayalam
- മൂല്യം mūlyaṁ, പുണ്യം puṇyaṁ, സസ്യം sasyaṁ
- virtue in Kannada
- ಸಯ್ಪು, ಮೊರೆ, ಅರ, ಮೇಲ್ಮೆ
- virtue in Punjabi
- گن guṇ, ਗੁਣ guṇ
- virtue in Gujarati
- સદ્ગુણ
- virtue in Odia
- ସଦ୍ଗୁଣ
- virtue in Sanskrit
- गुण guṇa
- virtue in Nepali
- सद्गुण
- virtue in Pashto
- فضيلت fazilat
- virtue in Tagalog
- birtud
- virtue in Arabic
- فَضِيلَة faḍīla, عِفَّة ʕiffa, طَهَارَة ṭahāra
- virtue in Malay
- fadzilat, kebajikan, kebaikan
- virtue in Indonesian
- kebajikan, fadilat
- virtue in Persian
- فضیلت fazilat, خوبی xubi, ستودگی sotudegi, هژیری hožiri
- virtue in Thai
- คุณ kun, บารมี baa-rá-mii, คุณธรรม kun-ná-tam, กุศล gù-sǒn
- virtue in Vietnamese
- đức
- virtue in Myanmar
- ပါရမီ para.mi, အလိမ္မာ a.limma, သီလ sila.
Examples of virtue in a sentence
- “Virtue is an inner light that can prevail in every soul.”2004 October 1, “Eight-and-a-Half-Tails”, in Champions of Kamigawa, Wizards of the Coast:
- many Egyptians still worry that the Brotherhood, by virtue of discipline and experience, would hold an unfair advantage if elections were held too soon.2011 February 17, “The autumn of the patriarchs”, in The Economist:
Synonyms of virtue
Antonyms
Forms of virtue
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | virtues |
| alternative form | vertu |
| alternative form (obsolete) | vertuu |
| alternative form (archaic) | vertue |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Virtues |
Origin of virtue
From Middle English vertu, virtue, borrowed from Anglo-Norman vertu, virtu, from Latin virtus (“manliness, bravery, worth, moral excellence”), from vir (“man”). Doublet of vertu. See virile. In this sense, displaced Old English cræft, whence Modern English craft.
Words formed from virtue
- by virtue of
- in virtue of
- cardinal virtue
- dormitive virtue
- in virtue of which
- lady of light virtue
- make a virtue of necessity
- nonvirtue
- patience is a virtue
- pseudovirtue
- unvirtue
- virtuecrat
- virtued
- virtue ethicist
- virtue ethics
- virtue is its own reward
- virtueless
- virtue name
- virtue signal
- virtue signaler
- virtue signaling
- virtue-signaling
- virtue signaller
- virtue signalling
- virtue-signalling
- virtuous
- woman of easy virtue
Phrases with virtue
- virtue names
- virtue signals
- virtue signaled
- virtue ethicists
- virtue signalers
- virtue signalled
- virtue signallers
- women of easy virtue
- ladies of light virtue
- Virtue is her own reward
- made a virtue of necessity
- makes a virtue of necessity
1 more phrasesFewer phrases
Questions about virtue
- What does virtue mean?
- Virtue means the idea of all that is good or excellent (in every sense of those terms) in a human being, collectively instantiated by a varying number of human traits known as "the virtues", the enumeration of which vary by the many virtue systems which have developed within different cultures, religions, and historical periods.
- What is virtue in Hindi?
- Virtue in Hindi is सदाचार (sadācār), गुण (guṇ), अच्छाई (acchāī). See Virtue meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use virtue in a sentence?
- “Virtue is an inner light that can prevail in every soul.”
- What part of speech is virtue?
- Virtue can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce virtue?
- Virtue is pronounced /ˈvɜːt͡ʃuː/.
- What is the plural of virtue?
- The plural of virtue is virtues.
Words near virtue in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: virtue (page history and authors); Virtue (page history and authors); धर्म (Marathi) (page history and authors); പുണ്യം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); virtue (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); گن (Punjabi) (page history and authors); virtue (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); virtue (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); virtue (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-virtue.ogg.
Cite this entry: “virtue.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/virtue. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.