From Middle English vertu, virtue, borrowed from Anglo-Norman vertu, virtu, from Latin virtus, from vir ("man").

• (RP) IPA: /ˈvɜː.t͡ʃuː/, /-tjuː/
• (America) IPA: /ˈvɝ.t͡ʃu/

virtue

1. (uncountable) Accordance with moral principles; conformity of behaviour or thought with the strictures of morality; good moral conduct. [from 13th c.]

   Without virtue, there is no freedom.

   • 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:

     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.

2. A particular manifestation of moral excellence in a person; an admirable quality. [from 13th c.]
   • 1766, Laurence Sterne, Sermon, section XLIV:

     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 […] .

3. 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. [from 14th c.]
4. An inherently advantageous or excellent quality of something or someone; a favourable point, an advantage. [from 14th c.]
   • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC ↗:

     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.

5. (Christianity) A creature embodying divine power, specifically one of the orders of heavenly beings, traditionally ranked above angels and archangels, and below seraphim and cherubim. [from 14th c.]
   • 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 as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:

     Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers; / For in possession such, not only of right, / I call ye, and declare ye now […] .

6. (uncountable) Specifically, moral conduct in sexual behaviour, especially of women; chastity. [from 17th c.]
7. (obsolete) The inherent power of a god, or other supernatural being. [13th–19th c.]
8. The inherent power or efficacy of something (now only in phrases). [from 13th c.]
   • 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 Cottle, […], →OCLC ↗:

     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.

• douth , thew
• See Thesaurus:goodness

• (antonym(s) of “excellence in morals”): vice
• foible

• French: vertu
• German: Tugend
• Italian: virtù
• Portuguese: virtude
• Russian: доброде́тель
• Spanish: virtud

• French: vertu
• German: Tugend
• Italian: virtù
• Portuguese: virtude
• Russian: досто́инство
• Spanish: virtud

• French: vertu
• German: Keuschheit
• Italian: virtù
• Portuguese: virtude
• Russian: доброде́тель
• Spanish: virtud

• German: Tugend
• Italian: merito
• Portuguese: virtude
• Spanish: virtud

• Italian: virtù

1. Surname.