# virtue

Pronunciation: say "VUR-choo" US /ˈvɝt͡ʃu/, UK /ˈvɜːt͡ʃuː/

## Noun

1. Behavior and thought that conform to moral principles; good moral conduct.
   - Simple: Behavior and thinking that follow what is morally right and good.
   - _He led a life of quiet virtue, never boasting about his good deeds._
   - _The community prized honesty and virtue over wealth and status._
2. A personality trait that disposes a person to act well; an admirable quality.
   - Simple: A good quality in someone's character that leads them to do good things.
   - _Generosity is a virtue she values in her closest friends._
   - _He counted loyalty among his most cherished virtues._
3. An inherently good quality that makes a person or thing useful, excellent, or otherwise advantageous.
   - Simple: A good point or advantage about something that makes it useful or better.
   - _The chief virtue of the new method is its speed._
   - _Among the tool's virtues are its durability and ease of use._
4. Any one of the qualities held to be especially important, such as the four cardinal virtues or the three theological virtues.
   - Simple: One of the most important good qualities, such as courage, justice, or faith.
   - _Prudence is the virtue that guides all the others in classical thought._
   - _Medieval teaching grouped the cardinal and theological virtues together._
5. A particular display of moral excellence in a person's conduct.
   - Simple: A clear example of good moral behavior shown by a person.
   - _Returning the lost wallet untouched was a small but genuine virtue._
   - _His calm honesty during the crisis was a virtue rarely seen._
6. The complete idea of all that is good in a human being, made up of the various traits that different cultures and traditions call virtues.
   - Simple: The idea of everything good in a person, made up of many good qualities.
   - _Ancient and modern thinkers disagree about what virtue truly consists of._
   - _For the Stoics, virtue was the highest goal of human life._
7. The inherent power or effectiveness of something, surviving now only in fixed expressions.
   - Simple: The natural power of something to have an effect, used now only in set phrases.
   - _Villagers grumbled that the spring had lost its virtue once the new pump was built beside it._
   - _Folk healers trusted the virtue of mountain herbs to cure many ailments._
8. Moral conduct in sexual behavior, especially as expected of women; chastity.
   - Simple: Good and proper behavior in romantic and sexual matters, especially once expected of women.
   - _Her parents prized her virtue above any dowry she might bring._
   - _Victorian novels often hinge on the threat to a heroine's virtue._
9. A heavenly being belonging to one of the orders ranked above angels and archangels but below seraphim and cherubim.
   - Simple: A kind of heavenly being, ranked higher than angels but lower than the top angels.
   - _Medieval theology placed the virtue above the angel in the heavenly hierarchy._
   - _Dante describes the virtues circling among the higher orders of heaven._

## Noun

10. Power that a god or another supernatural being was believed to possess by its very nature. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The natural power that a god or other magical being was believed to have.
   - _Worshippers believed the spring carried the healing virtue of its guardian deity._
   - _The hero drew strength from the virtue of the god he served._

## Origin

From Middle English vertu, borrowed through Anglo-Norman vertu from Latin virtus ("manliness, bravery, worth, moral excellence"), itself from vir ("man"). It is a doublet of vertu and related to virile, and in this sense it displaced Old English cræft.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/virtue (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).