Etymologically
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virtue

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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

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