virtue

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈvɜː.tʃuː/, /ˈvɜː.tjuː/, US /ˈvɝː.tʃuː/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English vertu, borrowed from Anglo-Norman vertu and Old French vertu (“force, strength, moral strength”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin virtūs (“moral strength, manliness, valour, excellence”),^[2][3][4] from vir (“man”) (see virile),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *wi-ro- (“man”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moral excellence, uprightness of life: probably before 1200 in Barnhart, about 1200 in Etymonline, before 1225 in the OED.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

By virtue of, probably also from before 1200, first meant by the power or efficacy of something,^[2][3] and keeps a Middle English sense of inherent power; the Wycliffe Bible has virtue where the King James Version has power.^[3] The power of a divine being is from about 1250, and one of the orders of angels from before 1300.^[6] Superiority or unusual ability is from about 1384, and a particular power or good quality from before 1387.^[2] Chastity, especially in women, is from the 1590s;^[3][6] of easy virtue describes a woman of loose morals.^[6] An obsolete sense was valour.^[4]

Timeline

• probably before 1200 – moral excellence; by virtue of.^[2]
• c. 1250 – divine power.^[6]
• c. 1384 – superiority, ability.^[2]
• before 1387 – an inherent power or quality.^[2]
• 1599 – chastity.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness.
2. A particular moral excellence: the virtue of tolerance.
3. Any of the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance) or the theological virtues (faith, hope, charity).
4. An admirable or useful quality; an advantage.
5. Chastity, especially in women.
6. (archaic) An effective or inherent power or force.

Word family

• virtueless
• virtuelessness
• nonvirtue
• virtuous
• cardinal virtue

Related words

• virago
• virile
• virtual
• virtuosity
• virtuosa
• virtuoso
• werewolf

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press