vârtute

Forms

vârtute f (plural vârtuți)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin virtūs (“manliness, strength, virtue”), through its accusative form.^{[1][2][3][4][1][5]} Pușcariu treated it in his 1905 dictionary (article 1862).^[2] For the moral senses of the old language MDA2 and the DLR also compare the French and Italian words.^[4][3]

It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian vãrtuti.^[6][7][2] Its Romance cognates include Italian virtù, French vertu, Spanish virtud and Portuguese virtude.^[2][5] Romanian later borrowed the Latin word again as the neologism virtute “virtue”.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, in the sense “strength, vigour”.^[4][3] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 has „când va lipsi vârtutea mea, să nu mă părăsești” “when my strength fails, do not forsake me” (Psalm 70), a verse the DLR also quotes from a 16th-century psalter.^[8][3]

Semantic evolution

In the old texts vârtute was physical strength and vigour, then moral strength, firm will and effort (din toată vârtutea “with all one's might”), courage, ability and, in church language, divine power and miracles.^[4][3] It also stood for political and military power, and in phrases such as în vârtutea “by virtue of, in accordance with”.^[4] The psalters used it for the heights of the earth and the firmament of heaven.^[3] Ciorănescu notes that the word and nearly all its derivatives are now obsolete, except vârtos; its place in the moral sense was taken by the neologism virtute.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[4]
• 16th century – in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[8]
• 1688 – vârtutea mea “my strength” in the Bucharest Bible (Psalm 70).^[8]
• 1814 – din toată vârtutea “with all our strength” in a document.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) Physical strength, vigour, force.^[4][3][1]
2. (archaic) Moral strength, firm will; courage, ability.^[4][3]
3. (archaic) Power, might; in church use, divine power or a miracle.^[4][3]
4. (archaic) virtue.^[4][3]

Word family

• vârtucios

Related words

• vârtos
• virtute
• virtuos
• Aromanian vãrtuti

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. vîrtute
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. vîrtute
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1442
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9371
6. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 1079
7. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 187
8. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. vârtute