virtues

Noun

virtue (countable and uncountable, plural virtues)

1. (uncountable, conceptually) 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.
2. (uncountable) Accordance with moral principles; conformity of behaviour or thought with the strictures of morality; good moral conduct.
   • Without virtue, there is no freedom.
3. (countable) 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.
4. A particular manifestation of moral excellence in a person.
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.
   • Better to be excluded from society than to deny the virtue of citizenship.
6. 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

See all 11 meanings of virtue