virtue

Etymology

From Middle English vertu, virtue, borrowed from Anglo-Norman vertu, virtu, from Latin virtus (“manliness, bravery, worth, moral excellence”), from vir (“man”). Doublet of vertu. See virile. In this sense, displaced Old English cræft, whence Modern English craft.

noun

1. (uncountable) Accordance with moral principles; conformity of behaviour or thought with the strictures of morality; good moral conduct.
   Without virtue, there is no freedom.
   Virtue is an inner light that can prevail in every soul. Oct 1 2004, “Eight-and-a-Half-Tails”, in Champions of Kamigawa, Wizards of the Coast
2. A particular manifestation of moral excellence in a person; an admirable quality.
   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 […]. 1766, Laurence Sterne, Sermon, section XLIV
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.
   The divine virtues of truth and equity are the only bands of friendship, the only supports of society. 1813, John Fleetwood, The Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
4. An inherently advantageous or excellent quality of something or someone; a favourable point, an advantage.
   One virtue of the present coalition government's attack on access to education could be to reopen the questions raised so pertinently by Robinson in the 1960s […]. 2011, The Guardian, Letter, 14 Mar 2011
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.
6. (uncountable) Specifically, moral conduct in sexual behaviour, especially of women; chastity.
   though she did not suppose Lydia to be deliberately engaging in an elopement without the intention of marriage, she had no difficulty in believing that neither her virtue nor her understanding would preserve her from falling an easy prey. 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
7. (obsolete) The inherent power of a god, or other supernatural being.
8. The inherent power or efficacy of something (now only in phrases).
   Here are the glasses, Meg. But I am afraid that the virtue has gone from them, and now they are only glass. Perhaps they were meant to help once and only on Camazotz. 1962, Madeleine L’Engle, “Aunt Beast”, in A Wrinkle in Time, New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books, 1973 printing, page 189
   many Egyptians still worry that the Brotherhood, by virtue of discipline and experience, would hold an unfair advantage if elections were held too soon. 17 Feb 2011, “The autumn of the patriarchs”, in The Economist