Virtue VIRTUE, n. vur'tu. [L. virtus, from vireo, or its root. See Worth.] The radical sense is strength, from straining, stretching, extending. This is the primary sense of L. vir, a man.]
1. Strength; that substance or quality of physical bodies, by which they act and produce effects on other bodies. In this literal and proper sense, we speak of the virtue or virtues of plants in medicine, and the virtues of drugs. In decoctions, the virtues of plants are extracted. By long standing in the open air, the virtues are lost.
2. Bravery valor. This was the predominant signification of virtus among the Romans.
Trust to thy single virtue.
[This sense is nearly or quite obsolete.]
3. Moral goodness; the practice of moral duties and the abstaining from vice, or a conformity of life and conversation to the moral law. In this sense, virtue may be, and in many instances must be, distinguished from religion. The practice of moral duties merely from motives of convenience, or from compulsion, or from regard to reputation, is virtue, as distinct from religion. The practice of moral duties from sincere love to God and his laws, is virtue and religion. In this sense it is true,
That virtue only makes our bliss below.
Virtue is nothing but voluntary obedience to truth.
4. A particular moral excellence; as the virtue of temperance, of chastity, of charity.
Remember all his virtues.
5. Acting power; something efficacious.
Jesus, knowing that virtue had gone out of him, turned - Mark 3.
6. Secret agency; efficacy without visible or material action.
She moves the body which she doth possess,
Yet no part toucheth, but by virtue's touch.
7. Excellence; or that which constitutes value and merit.
- Terence, who thought the sole grace and virtue of their fable, the sticking in of sentences.
8. One of the orders of the celestial hierarchy.
Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers.
9. Efficacy; power.
He used to travel through Greece by virtue of this fable, which procured him reception in all the towns.
10. Legal efficacy or power; authority. A man administers the laws by virtue of a commission.
In virtue, in consequence; by the efficacy or authority.
This they shall attain, partly in virtue of the promise of God, and partly in virtue of piety.

virtue n 1: the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong [syn: virtue, virtuousness, moral excellence] 2: any admirable quality or attribute; "work of great merit" [syn: merit, virtue] [ant: demerit, fault] 3: morality with respect to sexual relations [syn: virtue, chastity, sexual morality] 4: a particular moral excellence

virtue - solub

virtue ˈvə:tju: See: BY VIRTUE OF, MAKE A VIRTUE OF NECESSITY.

virtue noun Etymology: Middle English vertu, virtu, from Anglo-French, from Latin virtut-, virtus strength, manliness, virtue, from vir man — more at virile Date: 13th century 1. a. conformity to a standard of right ; morality b. a particular moral excellence 2. plural an order of angels — see celestial hierarchy 3. a beneficial quality or power of a thing 4. manly strength or courage ; valor 5. a commendable quality or trait ; merit 6. a capacity to act ; potency 7. chastity especially in a woman • virtueless adjective

virtue
n.
1 moral excellence; uprightness, goodness.
2 a particular form of this (patience is a virtue).
3 chastity, esp. of a woman.
4 a good quality (has the virtue of being adjustable).
5 efficacy; inherent power (no virtue in such drugs).
6 an angelic being of the seventh order of the celestial hierarchy (see ORDER n. 19).
Phrases and idioms:
by (or in) virtue of on the strength or ground of (got the job by virtue of his experience). make a virtue of necessity derive some credit or benefit from an unwelcome obligation.
Derivatives:
virtueless adj.
Etymology: ME f. OF vertu f. L virtus -tutis f. vir man

VIRTUE

SECTION I

It is said of Marcus Brutus that, before killing himself, he uttered these words: "O virtue! I thought you were something; but you are only an empty phantom!" You were right, Brutus, if you considered virtue as being head of a faction, and assassin of your benefactor; but if you had considered virtue as consisting only of doing good to those dependent on you, you would not have called it a phantom, and you would not have killed yourself in despair. I am very virtuous says this excrement of theology, for I have the four cardinal virtues, and the three divine. An honest man asks him—"What is the cardinal virtue?" The other answers—"Strength, prudence, temperance and justice."

 

THE HONEST MAN: If you are just, you have said everything; your strength, your prudence, your temperance, are useful qualities. If you have them, so much the better for you; but if you are just, so much the better for the others. But it is not enough to be just, you must do good; that is what is really cardinal. And your divine virtues, which are they?

THE EXCREMENT: Faith, hope, charity.

THE HONEST MAN: Is it a virtue to believe? either what you believe seems true to you, and in this case there is no merit in believing; or it seems false to you, and then it is impossible for you to believe. Hope cannot be a virtue any more than fear; one fears and one hopes, according as one receives a promise or a threat. As for charity, is it not what the Greeks and the Romans understood by humanity, love of one's neighbour? this love is nothing if it be not active; doing good, therefore, is the sole true virtue.

THE EXCREMENT: One would be a fool! Really, I am to give myself a deal of torment in order to serve mankind, and I shall get no return! all work deserves payment. I do not mean to do the least honest action, unless I am certain of paradise.

THE HONEST MAN: Ah, master! that is to say that, if you did not hope for paradise, and if you did not fear hell, you would never do any good action. Believe me, master, there are two things worthy of being loved for themselves, God and virtue.

THE EXCREMENT: I see, sir, you are a disciple of Fénélon.

THE HONEST MAN: Yes, master.

THE EXCREMENT: I shall denounce you to the judge of the ecclesiastical court at Meaux.

THE HONEST MAN: Go along, denounce!

SECTION II

What is virtue? Beneficence towards the fellow-creature. Can I call virtue things other than those which do me good? I am needy, you are generous. I am in danger, you help me. I am deceived, you tell me the truth. I am neglected, you console me. I am ignorant, you teach me. Without difficulty I shall call you virtuous. But what will become of the cardinal and divine virtues? Some of them will remain in the schools. What does it matter to me that you are temperate? you observe a precept of health; you will have better health, and I am happy to hear it. You have faith and hope, and I am happy still; they will procure you eternal life. Your divine virtues are celestial gifts; your cardinal virtues are excellent qualities which serve to guide you: but they are not virtues as regards your fellow-creature. The prudent man does good to himself, the virtuous man does good to mankind. St. Paul was right to tell you that charity prevails over faith and hope. But shall only those that are useful to one's fellow-creature be admitted as virtues? How can I admit any others? We live in society; really, therefore, the only things that are good for us are those that are good for society. A recluse will be sober, pious; he will be clad in hair-cloth; he will be a saint: but I shall not call him virtuous until he has done some act of virtue by which other men have profited. So long as he is alone, he is doing neither good nor evil; for us he is nothing. If St. Bruno brought peace to families, if he succoured want, he was virtuous; if he fasted, prayed in solitude, he was a saint. Virtue among men is an interchange of kindness; he who has no part in this interchange should not be counted. If this saint were in the world, he would doubtless do good; but so long as he is not in the world, the world will be right in refusing him the title of virtuous; he will be good for himself and not for us. But, you say to me, if a recluse is a glutton, a drunkard, given to secret debauches with himself, he is vicious; he is virtuous, therefore, if he has the opposite qualities. That is what I cannot agree: he is a very disagreeable fellow if he has the faults you mention; but he is not vicious, wicked, punishable as regards society to whom these infamies do no harm. It is to be presumed that were he to return to society he would do harm there, that he would be very vicious; and it is even more probable that he would be a wicked man, than it is sure that the other temperate and chaste recluse would be a virtuous man, for in society faults increase, and good qualities diminish. A much stronger objection is made; Nero, Pope Alexander VI., and other monsters of this species, have bestowed kindnesses; I answer hardily that on that day they were virtuous. A few theologians say that the divine emperor Antonine was not virtuous; that he was a stubborn Stoic who, not content with commanding men, wished further to be esteemed by them; that he attributed to himself the good he did to the human race; that all his life he was just, laborious, beneficent through vanity, and that he only deceived men through his virtues. "My God!" I exclaim. "Give us often rogues like him!"

virtue (virtues) 1. Virtue is thinking and doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. She could have established her own innocence and virtue easily enough. = goodness ≠ vice N-UNCOUNT 2. A virtue is a good quality or way of behaving. His virtue is patience... Humility is considered a virtue. N-COUNT 3. The virtue of something is an advantage or benefit that it has, especially in comparison with something else. There was no virtue in returning to Calvi the way I had come... N-COUNT 4. You use by virtue of to explain why something happens or is true. (FORMAL) The article stuck in my mind by virtue of one detail... PREP-PHRASE 5. If you make a virtue of something, you pretend that you did it because you chose to, although in fact you did it because you had to. The movie makes a virtue out of its economy. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n

virtue ˈvə:tju: n. 1 moral excellence; uprightness, goodness. 2 a particular form of this (patience is a virtue). 3 chastity, esp. of a woman. 4 a good quality (has the virtue of being adjustable). 5 efficacy; inherent power (no virtue in such drugs). 6 an angelic being of the seventh order of the celestial hierarchy (see ORDER n. 19). øby (or in) virtue of on the strength or ground of (got the job by virtue of his experience). make a virtue of necessity derive some credit or benefit from an unwelcome obligation. øøvirtueless adj. [ME f. OF vertu f. L virtus -tutis f. vir man]

virtue
godnes, miht, godnes, arfæstniss, mægen

VIRTUE The world in all doth but two nations bear, The good, the bad, and these mixed everywhere. The Loyal Scot. A. MARVELL. What nothing earthly gives or can destroy,-- The soul's calm sunshine, and the heartfelt joy, Is Virtue's prize. Essay on Man, Epistle IV. A. POPE. Virtue, not rolling suns, the mind matures, That life is long, which answers life's great end. The time that bears no fruit, deserves no name. Night Thoughts, Night V. DR. E. YOUNG. Good, the more Communicated, more abundant grows. Paradise Lost, Bk. V. MILTON. Her virtue and the conscience of her worth, That would be wooed, and not unsought be won. Paradise Lost, Bk. VIII. MILTON. Know then this truth (enough for man to know), "Virtue alone is happiness below." Essay on Man, Epistle IV. A. POPE. For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds; And though a late, a sure reward succeeds. The Mourning Bride, Act v. Sc. 12. W. CONGREVE. That virtue only makes our bliss below, And all our knowledge is, ourselves to know. Essay on Man, Epistle IV. A. POPE. Pygmies are pygmies still, though perched on Alps; And pyramids are pyramids in vales. Each man makes his own stature, builds himself: Virtue alone outbuilds the Pyramids; Her monuments shall last when Egypt's fall. Night Thoughts, Night VI. DR. E. YOUNG. Abashed the devil stood, And felt how awful goodness is, and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely. Paradise Lost, Bk. IV. MILTON. So dear to heaven is saintly chastity, That, when a soul is found sincerely so, A thousand liveried angels lacky her, Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt. Comus. MILTON. Adieu, dear, amiable youth! Your heart can ne'er be wanting! May prudence, fortitude, and truth Erect your brow undaunting! In ploughman phrase, "God send you speed," Still daily to grow wiser; And may you better reck the rede, Than ever did the adviser! Epistle to a Young Friend. R. BURNS. Though lone the way as that already trod, Cling to thine own integrity and God! To One Deceived. H.T. TUCKERMAN. Virtue she finds too painful to endeavor, Content to dwell in decencies forever. Moral Essays, Epistle II. A. POPE. Keep virtue's simple path before your eyes, Nor think from evil good can ever rise. Tancred, Act v. Sc. 8. J. THOMSON. Count that day lost whose low descending sun Views from thy hand no worthy action done. Staniford's Art of Reading. ANONYMOUS. This above all.--to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE.

Virtue Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do; Not light them for themselves: for if our virtues Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike As if we had them not. SHAKESPEARE: M. for M., Act i., Sc. 1. Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues We write in water. SHAKESPEARE: Henry III., Act iv., Sc. 2. Assume a virtue if you have it not. SHAKESPEARE: Hamlet, Act iii., Sc. 4. Virtue may be assail'd, but never hurt; Surpris'd by unjust force, but not enthrall'd; Yea, even that which mischief meant most harm, Shall in the happy trial prove most glory. MILTON: Comus, Line 589. Sometimes virtue starves while vice is fed, What then? Is the reward of virtue bread? POPE: Essay on Man, Epis. iv., Line 149.

Virtue \Vir"tue\ (?; 135), n. [OE. vertu, F. vertu, L. virtus strength, courage, excellence, virtue, fr. vir a man. See Virile, and cf. Virtu.] 1. Manly strength or courage; bravery; daring; spirit; valor. [Obs.] --Shak. Built too strong For force or virtue ever to expugn. --Chapman. 2. Active quality or power; capacity or power adequate to the production of a given effect; energy; strength; potency; efficacy; as, the virtue of a medicine. Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about. --Mark v. 30. A man was driven to depend for his security against misunderstanding, upon the pure virtue of his syntax. --De Quincey. The virtue of his midnight agony. --Keble. 3. Energy or influence operating without contact of the material or sensible substance. She moves the body which she doth possess, Yet no part toucheth, but by virtue's touch. --Sir. J. Davies. 4. Excellence; value; merit; meritoriousness; worth. I made virtue of necessity. --Chaucer. In the Greek poets, . . . the economy of poems is better observed than in Terence, who thought the sole grace and virtue of their fable the sticking in of sentences. --B. Jonson. 5. Specifically, moral excellence; integrity of character; purity of soul; performance of duty. Virtue only makes our bliss below. --Pope. If there's Power above us, And that there is all nature cries aloud Through all her works, he must delight in virtue. --Addison. 6. A particular moral excellence; as, the virtue of temperance, of charity, etc. ``The very virtue of compassion.'' --Shak. ``Remember all his virtues.'' --Addison. 7. Specifically: Chastity; purity; especially, the chastity of women; virginity. H. I believe the girl has virtue. M. And if she has, I should be the last man in the world to attempt to corrupt it. --Goldsmith. 8. pl. One of the orders of the celestial hierarchy. Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers. --Milton. Cardinal virtues. See under Cardinal, a. In, or By, virtue of, through the force of; by authority of. ``He used to travel through Greece by virtue of this fable, which procured him reception in all the towns.'' --Addison. ``This they shall attain, partly in virtue of the promise made by God, and partly in virtue of piety.'' --Atterbury. Theological virtues, the three virtues, faith, hope, and charity. See --1 Cor. xiii. 13.

VIRTUE vur'-tu: This word has two quite distinct meanings in the King James Version: (1) It was formerly often used in the now obsolete sense of "manly power," "valor," "efficacy" (Latin, virtus, "manly strength" or "excellence," from vir, "man"): "Trust in thy single virtue; for thy soldiers All levied in thy name, have in thy name Took their discharge." --Shakespeare, King Lear, V, iii, 103 ff. It was also used in the sense of a mighty work, a miracle. Thus Wycliffe translates Mt 11:20: "Thanne Jhesus bigan to saye repreef to cities in whiche ful many vertues of him weren don." So in the King James Version, Mr 5:30; Lu 6:19; 8:46, in the sense of "power," "miraculous energy or influence" (dunamis, "inherent power, residing in the nature of a thing"; contrast exousia, "power arising from external opportunity or liberty of action"). In these passages it is translated in the Revised Version (British and American) "power" (as elsewhere in the King James Version; compare Ac 3:12, etc.). (2) In its ordinary modern meaning of "moral goodness" it occurs in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) The Wisdom of Solomon 4:1; 5:13; 8:7; Php 4:8; 2Pe 1:3,5. In these passages it stands for arete, the usual classical term for "moral excellence" (originally "fitness" of any sort), used in Septuagint to translate words meaning "glory," "praiseworthiness," as in Hab 3:3; Isa 42:12; 63:7 (of God); Zec 6:13 (of the Messiah). The Septuagint sense may color the meaning of the word as applied to God in 2Pe 1:3 the Revised Version (British and American); as also in its plural use (of God) in 1Pe 2:9 (the King James Version "praises," the Revised Version (British and American) "excellencies"). The adjective "virtuous" occurs in the King James Version, the English Revised Version Ru 3:11; Pr 12:4; 31:10 (the American Standard Revised Version "worthy"), and the adverb "virtuously" in Pr 31:29 (the American Standard Revised Version "worthily"), in each case for chayil, "strength," "force" (whether of body or of mind), then in a moral sense of "worth," "virtue." D. Miall Edwards

virtue n. 1. Force, efficacy, power, strength, potency, energy, inherent power. 2. Natural excellence, worth, merit, value, desert. 3. Goodness (that comes from self-discipline), uprightness, probity, integrity, rectitude, morality, worth, moral excellence. 4. Excellence, good quality. 5. Virginity, purity, female chastity. 6. Efficacy, force, power.

virtue ˈvə:tju: n. 1 morality, high-mindedness, honour, goodness, justness, righteousness, fairness, integrity, right-mindedness, honesty, probity, uprightness, rectitude, decency, worth, worthiness, nobility, character, respectability: You will find the Billingses to be people of unassailable virtue. 2 virginity, chastity, chasteness, honour, innocence, purity: As Healey had six daughters, he was kept quite busy protecting their virtue. 3 quality, credit, strength, good point, asset: Opposing the seven deadly sins are the three theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity, and the four cardinal virtues, fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance. 4 by virtue of. by dint of, owing to, thanks to, by reason of, because of, on account of: Gerry was a part owner by virtue of his investment in the company.

225 Moby Thesaurus words for "virtue": Dutch courage, advantageousness, affection, agreeableness, amperage, arete, armipotence, asset, assured probity, attribute, auspiciousness, authority, because of, beef, beneficialness, benevolence, benignity, black power, blamelessness, blotlessness, boldness, braveness, bravery, brute force, by dint of, by reason of, by virtue of, caliber, character, characteristic, charge, charisma, chasteness, chastity, chivalrousness, chivalry, class, cleanliness, cleanness, clout, cogence, cogency, compulsion, conspicuous gallantry, courage, courageousness, credit, decency, desert, dint, doughtiness, drive, duress, effect, effectiveness, effectuality, efficacy, energy, erectness, estimableness, ethicality, ethicalness, excellence, excellency, expedience, fairness, favorableness, fealty, feature, fidelity, fineness, first-rateness, flower power, force, force majeure, forcefulness, full blast, full force, gallantness, gallantry, gallantry under fire, good character, goodliness, goodness, grace, greatheartedness, healthiness, helpfulness, heroicalness, heroism, high ideals, high principles, high-mindedness, honesty, honor, honorableness, immaculacy, immaculateness, influence, innocence, integrity, intrepidity, intrepidness, irreproachability, irreproachableness, justice, justness, kindness, knightliness, lionheartedness, loyalty, main force, main strength, mana, manfulness, manhood, manliness, mark, martial spirit, merit, might, might and main, mightiness, military spirit, moral excellence, moral strength, morale, morality, morals, moxie, muscle power, niceness, nobility, on account of, owing to, perfection, piety, pizzazz, pleasantness, poop, pot-valor, potence, potency, potentiality, power, power pack, power structure, power struggle, powerfulness, prepotency, principles, probity, productiveness, productivity, profitableness, property, prowess, puissance, pull, punch, pureness, purity, push, quality, rectitude, reputability, respectability, rewardingness, righteousness, rightness, savor, sexual innocence, sinew, skillfulness, snowiness, soldierly quality, soundness, spotlessness, stainlessness, stalwartness, stature, steam, stoutheartedness, stoutness, strength, strong arm, superiority, superpower, taintlessness, thanks to, trait, unblemishedness, unblottedness, uncorruptness, undefiledness, unimpeachability, unimpeachableness, unsoiledness, unspottedness, unstainedness, unsulliedness, untaintedness, uprightness, upstandingness, usefulness, valiance, valiancy, validity, valor, valorousness, value, vehemence, vigor, vim, virginity, virility, virtuousness, virulence, vitality, wattage, weight, whiteness, wholeness, worth, worthiness

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