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单词 virtue
释义

virtuen.

Brit. /ˈvəːtʃuː/, /ˈvəːtjuː/, U.S. /ˈvərtʃu/
Forms:

α. Middle English vartu, Middle English verertues (plural, transmission error), Middle English vertewe, Middle English verti, Middle English vertiwe, Middle English vertou, Middle English vertow, Middle English vertueus (plural), Middle English vertuhs (plural), Middle English vertuos (plural), Middle English vertuous (plural), Middle English vertuouse (plural), Middle English vertush (plural), Middle English vertuus (plural), Middle English vertuwe, Middle English vertwe, Middle English vertywe, Middle English vetu (transmission error), Middle English veu (transmission error), Middle English wartu, Middle English wertewe, Middle English wertu, Middle English–1500s uertu, Middle English–1600s uertue, Middle English–1600s verteu, Middle English–1600s vertew, Middle English–1600s vertu, Middle English–1600s (1700s– regional and nonstandard) vartue, Middle English–1700s vertue, 1500s uerteu, 1500s uerteue, 1500s uertew, 1500s uertewe, 1500s wertue; English regional (northern) 1900s– vahty; Scottish pre-1700 uertu, pre-1700 uertue, pre-1700 verteous (plural), pre-1700 verteu, pre-1700 vertew, pre-1700 vertu, pre-1700 vertuous (plural), pre-1700 vertuus (plural), pre-1700 vertw, pre-1700 wairtew, pre-1700 werteu, pre-1700 werteue, pre-1700 wertew, pre-1700 wertewe, pre-1700 wertow, pre-1700 wertu, pre-1700 wertuous (plural), pre-1700 wertw, pre-1700 1700s–1800s vertue; Irish English 1800s vartiay; N.E.D. (1917) also records a form late Middle English wertou-.

β. Middle English uirtu, Middle English virteu (in a late copy), Middle English 1600s virtu, Middle English–1500s virtew, Middle English–1600s uirtue, Middle English– virtue, 1500s–1600s virtewe; Scottish pre-1700 uirtew, pre-1700 uirtu, pre-1700 virteu, pre-1700 virthew, pre-1700 virtu, pre-1700 virtuues (plural), pre-1700 virtw, pre-1700 virtwe, pre-1700 wirteu, pre-1700 wirtewe, pre-1700 wirtue, pre-1700 1700s– virtue.

γ. 1600s– virture (now nonstandard); English regional (northern) 1800s– varter; Scottish pre-1700 vertur, 1800s verter; Irish English 1800s verter.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French virtu.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman verteu, vertue, vertuwe, virtue, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French vertu, virtu (French vertu ) power (end of the 10th cent. as vertud ), the spiritual force or influence of an event (11th cent.), an act of supernatural or divine power, a miracle, a wonder (11th cent.), valour, courage, fortitude (c1100), physical strength (c1100), a specific quality or property (c1145), moral excellence (c1145; the specific sense ‘chastity (especially of a woman)’ is not paralleled in French until later: 1677), (in plural vertus ) one of the orders of angels, also an analogous order of demonic beings (1170), ability, merit, distinction (second half of the 12th cent.), the power of a plant, liquid, or other substance to affect the body in a beneficial manner (13th cent.), magical power (1270, originally with specific reference to a precious stone), a particular form of moral excellence (late 13th cent.; frequently in theological contexts e.g. in vertu cardinale , vertu theologale , etc.), flourishing state or condition (14th cent. or earlier), (in legal contexts, with reference to a law, pledge, etc.) force, power, validity (14th cent. or earlier) < classical Latin virtūt- , virtus manliness, valour, worth, merit, ability, particular excellence of character or ability, moral excellence, goodness, this quality personified as a goddess, any attractive or valuable quality, potency, efficacy, special property, in post-classical Latin also miracle (Vetus Latina), power to perform miracles, heavenly power, angel, armed forces, strength, force, power (Vulgate), (of a document) validity, legality, force (9th cent.; from 13th cent. in British sources), alchemical property (from 13th cent. in British sources) < vir man (see virile adj.) + -tus, suffix forming nouns.Compare Old Occitan vertut , virtud (mid 11th cent.), Catalan virtut (12th cent.), Spanish virtud (first half of the 13th cent.; late 11th cent. as †bertut ), Portuguese virtude (13th cent.), Italian virtù , †vertù (end of the 13th cent.; > virtu n.). In sense 5b (which is not paralleled in French) after the post-classical Latin sense ‘armed forces’ (frequently in plural virtutes ) of classical Latin virtus. In sense 7 after Italian virtù virtu n. The β. forms reflect the ulterior Latin etymon, either directly or via French (where forms with i in the first syllable are common especially in Middle French). With the γ. forms compare similar variation shown e.g. by ague n. The Middle English plural forms vertuhs, vertush appear to be attested only in Osbern Bokenham's Lives of the Saints. This source frequently uses -h- either in postvocalic position as a vowel length marker, or apparently redundantly after another consonant. See discussion in C. Horstmann Über Osbern Bokenam und seine Legendensammlung (1883) 13. The position of stress apparently varied in early use.
I. As a quality of people, divine beings, etc.
1. As a count noun.
a. A moral quality regarded (esp. in religious contexts) as good or desirable in a person, such as patience, kindness, etc.; a particular form of moral excellence. Cf. vice n.1 2a.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > [noun] > a virtue
goodOE
custOE
goodnessOE
mightOE
mightOE
thew?c1225
virtuec1225
gracea1393
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 164 Þis is ȝet þe uertu þe halt..ure feble flesch... In hal halinesse.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 271 Þe oðer his..diuociun reufulnesse..edmodnesse. & uertuz oðre swicche.
c1330 (?c1300) Speculum Guy (Auch.) (1898) l. 71 I wole þe teche, Faire uertuz for to take And foule þewes to forsake.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 571 (MED) Alle virtus has saul i-wis, þat vte o sin vnsaked is.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xi. l. 370 (MED) Suffraunce is a souereygne vertue.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 82 Oþere synnes arn contrarye to on vertew, as pride is contrarye to lownesse.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 147 The beste good of all is good of vertues and grace.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 62v Ho..Voidet all vanities & vertus dissyret.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxiii. 224 The word became not..her sex, whose chiefe vertue is shamefastnesse.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. iii. 75 Our crimes would dispaire if they were not cherish'd by our vertues . View more context for this quotation
1683 J. Bunyan Greatness of Soul 163 'Tis a sport now to some to taunt and squib, and deride at other mens vertues.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. III. 207 They confess too, that Self-Denial is a Christian Vertue.
1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxviii. 136 Courage, preferably to equity or justice, was the virtue most valued.
1797 W. Godwin Enquirer i. ii. 9 Human virtues without discrimination are no virtues.
1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. 321 Thousands..proclaimed the virtues of the deceased prince superior to those of all his predecessors.
1865 J. Lubbock Prehist. Times xiii. 458 Neither faith, hope, nor charity, enter into the virtues of a savage.
1915 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 25 310 One should resist the aggression of an enemy who threatens to destroy one's life before one has cultivated that virtue [sc. humility].
1933 S. Walker Night Club Era 176 He preached the old-time religion, and his theory of life was built upon the simple, Spartan virtues.
1974 Times 4 Feb. 12/6 One almost expects him to say..that modesty is a much overrated virtue.
2007 V. Smith Clean ix. 283 Sobriety, temperance, cleanness, thrift, and respectability were sober old Calvinist virtues.
b. Each of a specified number of morally good qualities regarded (esp. in religious contexts) as of particular worth or importance, such as the four cardinal virtues (see cardinal adj. 1), the three theological virtues (see theological adj. 1), or these seven virtues collectively as opposed to the seven deadly sins.
ΚΠ
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 159 (MED) Þe boȝes of þise trawe byeþ þe zeuen principals uirtues þet ansuerieþ to þe zeue vices.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 5 Þe metynge of þe þre waies of þe þre vertues of deuynyte [?a1475 anon tr. vertues theologicalle; L. theologicarum virtutum], and þe metynge of foure weies of þe foure chief vertues of þewes of real cloþynge [?a1475 anon tr. cardinalle vertues; L. cardinalium trabearum].
c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 827 (MED) Þat beþ þe seuen vertues wiþ winne To ouercome þe seuen dedly sinne.
a1450 Castle Perseverance (1969) l. 1691 (MED) Þe seuene synnys I forsake And to þese seuene vertuis I me take.
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 4755 Prudence, attemperance, strengthe, and right, Tho foure ben vertues principal.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Tabil sig. *.i Ye twa principal vertewes callit Faith & Hoip.
1590 E. Spenser Let. to Sir W. Raleigh in Faerie Queene sig. Ppv The twelue priuate morall vertues, as Aristotle hath deuised.
1693 A. Gavin Short Hist. Monastical Orders 249 Of the Order of the ten Virtues, or Delights of the Virgin Mary, called also of the Annunciade.
1737 R. Challoner Catholick Christian Instructed i. 2 To nourish..in our Souls the three Divine Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.
1765 A. Tucker Light of Nature II. 407 Faith, understood in the most comprehensive sense, as including the two associate virtues.
1838 Covenant Jan. 177 The seven cardinal virtues [are] derived from, and reducible to, the three principal and primary virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.
1878 Indian Christian Intelligencer Mar. 51 The seven virtues have corresponding vices, likewise seven in number.
1909 E. Kawaguchi Three Years in Tibet xli. 252 I delivered a sermon on the ten Buḍḍhist virtues.
1958 Philos. Sci. 25 171/2 Love is the first of the five Confucian virtues and the last of the three fundamental virtues of Christianity.
2003 R. Taylor How to read Church 186 Since the camel can go many days without drinking, it became a symbol of temperance, one of the seven virtues.
c. Chiefly with capital initial. A morally good quality personified, or a representation of this in art.
ΚΠ
a1450 Castle Perseverance (1969) l. 70 (MED) He gaderyth to hym Glotony aȝeyns Sobyrnesse, Leccherye wyth Chastyte fytyth ful fell..Þus vycys ageyns vertues fytyn ful snelle.
1581 W. Goodyear tr. J. de Cartigny Voy. Wandering Knight iii. viii. 114 Then Faith led me to hir Tower, and all the other vertues kept vs company.
a1627 W. Fowler tr. Petrarch Triumphs in Wks. (1914) I. 70 With hir..all the verteus fair—O what a hevinlie cumpanie and glorious troupe.
a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 771 Thou knowest the Virtues cannot hate thee worse.
1851 E. J. Millington tr. A. N. Didron Christian Iconogr. I. 84 Each Virtue bears a characteristic attribute... Liberty, like..the twelve sister Virtues..is decorated with a large nimbus.
1885 J. R. Allen Early Christian Symbolism 277 Crowned figures armed with shields..to symbolise the Virtues trampling on the Vices overcome.
1921 G. C. Williamson Miniature Collector xi. 133 Cosway produced a Head of one of the Virtues done in chalk.
1975 G. G. Sill Handbk. Symbols in Christian Art 134 [A sword] is frequently held by warrior saints and the Virtue Fortitude.
1998 C. B. Kendall Allegory of Church xi. 150 The most prominent female figures in the archivolts of Aquitaine are the virtues, who offer the Crown of Virtue to the soul as her reward.
d. Applied to qualities conventionally regarded as vices or negative qualities, esp. with reference to certain circumstances in which such qualities may be beneficial.
ΚΠ
1575 T. Vautrollier tr. M. Luther Comm. Epist. to Galathians f. 87v (margin) Anger sometimes a necessary vertue.
1671 J. Ogilby tr. O. Dapper et al. Atlas Chinensis 12 Their chief Practise, and special Vertues, are Theft, Murder, and Adultery.
1682 R. Ferguson Third Part No Protestant Plot 46 There are some..who..may be able to edifie and discipline those raw blades in the necessary Virtues of Perjury and Impudence.
1719 E. Young Busiris i. 12 When Rage and Rancor are the proper Virtues, And Loss of Reason is the Mark of Men.
1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) iv. ii. 117 But they were not aware that there are things Which make revenge a virtue by reflection.
1882 Temple Bar May 21 Poor Roger has a moral squint, looks at everything from an angle. We know how he argued himself..into believing madness a virtue!
1921 Fortn. Rev. Dec. 902 If, as Nietzsche contends, cruelty is a virtue, if greed is a virtue, if lust is a virtue, the reverend and right reverend eulogists of war are justified.
2010 C. Norris Black Belt Patriotism (new ed.) vi. 116 Too many of us think we are the product of random chance and selection..; and in such circumstances selfishness is a virtue, or at least no vice.
2. As a mass noun.
a. Conformity to moral law or accepted moral standards, the possession of morally good qualities; behaviour arising from such standards, abstention on moral grounds from any form of wrongdoing or vice. Opposed to vice n.1 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > [noun]
virtuec1230
morality1593
moralness1637
squareness1642
principledness1954
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 138 Nu is uertu..wakien hwen hit greueð þe.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. l. 116 Tho was the vertu sett above And vice was put under fote.
?a1430 T. Hoccleve Mother of God l. 9 in Minor Poems (1970) i. 52 Modir of mercy,..Þat of al vertu art superlatyf.
c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) iii. l. 206 (MED) So vertue wolde flowe whan vicis were ebbid.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iv. xx. f. lxxviiv The roote of alle vertue is obedyence and humylyte.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour ii. x. sig. Rviii If vertue be an election annexed vnto our nature, and consisteth in a meane, which is determined by reason [etc.].
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. ii. f. 71v [They] haue enclined, & finally returned vnto their naturall and primitiue vertue.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. ii. xi. 45 The principall Habits are two in number, Vertue, and Vice.
1691 J. Hartcliffe Treat. Virtues 9 There were also those, who taught, That Virtue was that excellent thing, in which we should find our chiefest Good.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. iii. 55 Virtue consists, in a Regard to what is Right and Reasonable, as being so; in a Regard to Veracity, Justice, Charity, in themselves.
1791 E. Burke Let. 11 Feb. in Corr. (1967) VI. 225 Vice is never so odious..as when it usurps and disgraces the natural place of Virtue.
1828 T. Carlyle in Foreign Rev. 1 119 He thinks that to propose a reward for virtue is to render virtue impossible.
1850 F. W. Robertson Lect. 73 That alone is virtue which has good placed before it and evil, and seeing the evil, chooses the good.
1874 J. Lawrence Angel Voices from Spirit World 297 Having..been induced to step aside from the path of virtue and holiness.
1944 ‘F. O'Connor’ Crab Apple Jelly 56 Except for his old-womanly fits of virtue, Whelan was all right as parish priests go.
1979 L. Blue Backdoor to Heaven (1985) xii. 76 It took me some time to realize what real sin and real virtue were.
2010 P. Murray Skippy Dies 116 Perhaps man is base to the core, any flicker of virtue merely a trick of the light.
b. Frequently with capital initial. Such moral excellence personified (now usually as female).
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > [noun] > personified or as an entity
virtue1402
1402 T. Hoccleve Lepistre Cupide (Huntington) l. 457 in Minor Poems (1970) ii. 307 Vertu so noble is and worthy in kynde, Þat vice & shee may nat in feere abyde.
c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) l. 2074 Then may ye say ye have a sure staff To..walke by the way of Vertu hys loore.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xx. sig. Tt8 If euer Vertue tooke a bodie to shewe his (els vnconceaueable) beautie.
1607 T. Dekker & J. Webster North-ward Hoe v. sig. H Vertue glories not in the spoyle but in the victory.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) iii. ii. 63 That loue which Vertue begges, and Vertue graunts. View more context for this quotation
1664 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania: 2nd Pt. v. 119 If Vertue be so happy when it is afflicted.
1726 J. Thomson Winter 15 Vertue, sole, survives, Immortal, Mankind's never-failing Friend.
1799 T. Campbell Pleasures of Hope & Other Poems i. 530 So Virtue dies, the spouse of Liberty!
1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 21 Sept. 85 A Wound in feelings which Virtue herself has fostered.
1860 All Year Round 14 July 322 Man may bow before virtue, but virtue never bows before man.
1912 R. Bridges Poet. Wks. 382 When sickening France adulterously sinn'd With Virtue.
1961 Naugatuck (Connecticut) Daily News 31 Jan. 6/8 No wonder then, if virtue herself be sometimes lost in the blaze of kindling animation.
2002 New Yorker 1 July 51/1 Vice knocked out Virtue in two minutes, six seconds of the first round.
c. Chastity, esp. on the part of a woman; sexual purity; virginity. Cf. virtuous adj. 5, of easy virtue at Phrases 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > purity > chastity > [noun] > of a woman
honoura1393
honestyc1405
virtue1543
1543 Chron. J. Hardyng f. xlivv The kyng..so much estemed her continencye & chastitee, that he set her vertue in stead of possession and rychesse.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iv. i. 83 Hero itselfe can blot out Heroes vertue . View more context for this quotation
1706 R. Estcourt Fair Example v. i Ne'er let the fair one boast of Virtue prov'd Till she has well refus'd the Man she lov'd.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xiv. 63 I say not this..to excuse the poor Lady's Fall: Nothing can do that; because Virtue is..preferable to all Considerations.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. ii. iii. 92 That Order of Females whose Faces are taken as a Kind of Security for their Virtue . View more context for this quotation
1844 Christian Parlor Mag. Nov. 221/2 Had he lost his virtue in the princess' hall, he had never left his name illustrious in the book of God.
1872 Med. & Surg. Reporter 6 Apr. 313/2 The use of the speculum was attempted in a girl fifteen years of age... The evidence of her virtue was of a most decided character.
1885 M. Collins Prettiest Woman in Warsaw I. ii. 25 She played the woman of virtue—and played it well.
1931 O. Nash Hard Lines 93 The bashful Spaniardess apparently finds the amorous Spaniard..menacing to her virtue.
1972 R. Davies Manticore ii. i. 76 She..had to have money always about her for unexplained reasons connected with protecting her virtue.
1998 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) Sept. 70/2 A tomboyish virgin who is determined to lose her virtue.
†d. Scottish. Industry, work, diligence; an instance of this. Cf. virtuous adj. 3. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [noun] > diligence or industriousness
businessa1387
industry1485
virtue1546
industriousness1549
negotiousness1642
1546 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 757/2 Quhairthrow all virtew and marchandice within the said burgh is abusit, ceissit and dekeyit.
1641 Sc. Acts, Chas. I (1817) V. 657/2 It is necessar that in everie schyre at leist thair be ane schooll or hous of vertue erected.
1647 in Sc. Antiquary (1899) 13 33 The elders to..take up a list..what children they have to be put to some virtue and manufactorie.
1722 in T. Mair Narr. & Extracts Rec. Presbytery of Ellon (1894) 354 He allows her own and women's vertue to keep her pocket.
1728 P. Walker Some Remarkable Passages Life A. Peden (ed. 3) 119 His Landlord being digging Stones at the End of that Village, told the Officers, That he was afraid the Soldiers would plunder his Cottage; They said, Poor Man, you deserve Encouragement for your Virtue.
1803 W. Scott Lett. (1932) I. 189 In many parts of Scotland the word virtue is limited entirely to industry.
3.
a. The power or operative influence inherent in a supernatural or divine being. Cf. senses 9c and 8b. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > [noun] > power of
virtuec1275
the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > attributes of god(s) > power
virtuec1275
sky?1518
c1275 Kentish Serm. in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 218 (MED) Yef þu art euel man, besech ure lorde þet he do ine þe his uertu.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xvi. 21 I shal shewe to them myn hond and my vertue [L. virtutem meam]; and thei shul wite, for name to me is Lord.
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) l. 5852 ‘Pers’, he seyd, ‘..þou art weyl with Ihesu; He sheweþ for þe grete vertu.’
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 37 Þat it [sc. Bubo] may neuer be cured..but if it plese god..for to help wiþ his vnspekeable vertu.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. xix/2 After the passion of Jhesu Cryst..he was transported from Infirmyte to vertu.
a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 6 Hopyng þat þe vertu of Cryst schull put away his temptacyon.
1570 T. Norton tr. A. Nowell Catechisme f. 25v All things would runne to ruine, and fall to nothyng, vnlesse by hys vertue, & as it were by hys hand, they were vpholden.
1605 M. Drayton Poems sig. Ccv All vncleane thoughts, foule spirits cast out in mee, Onely by vertue that proceedes from thee.
1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. I. i. 14 That the world is animated, and that God is the soul thereof,..whose divine moving vertue penetrats through the element of water.
1743 J. Wesley & C. Wesley Coll. Psalms (new ed.) lxxx. 16 Look on them with thy flaming Eyes, The Sin-consuming Virtue dart.
1790 G. Gregory Hist. Christian Church II. 329 The Energici held that the eucharist was no other than the energy or virtue of Jesus Christ.
1851 J. M. Neale Mediæval Hymns 25 Michael, who, in princely virtue, Cast Abaddon from on high.
1920 L. M. Smith Early Hist. Monastery Cluny xvii. 200 By the virtue of Christ and the standard of the Holy Cross I withstand thee, thou enemy of the human race.
2009 D. O'Donoghue tr. A. de Gobineau Comte de Gobineau & Orientalism ii. viii. 207 God alone can restore the dead to life; it can happen only in the name and by the virtue of God.
†b. An act of supernatural or divine power; a miracle. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun] > working wonders or miracles > miracle > indicating divine intervention
miracle?a1160
marvelc1300
virtuec1300
signa1325
c1300 St. Christopher (Harl.) l. 127 in F. J. Furnivall Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 63 On such god he seide ȝe schulde bileoue, þat such virtu mai do.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xi. 20 Thanne Jhesus began for to seie repreue to citees, in whiche ful manye vertues [L. virtutes] of hym ben don.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 19566 Þe haligaste, it was sa gode, Þate þa men þat it undirfange Moȝte do suilc uirtuȝ and sua strange.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 28 Crist in a coost of þe Jewis miȝt not do ani vertu þer, for þe vntrouþ.
c1480 (a1400) St. Matthew 232 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 196 I traste þat þu ma do þe sammyne-lyk vertu; fore his sake þar-for I pray.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Mark vi. f. lj What wysdom is this that is geven vnto him? and such vertues that are wrought by his hondes?
1546 S. Gardiner Detection Deuils Sophistrie f. xxxii The ryght hande of the highest whiche is incarnate of the, hathe wroughte manye vertues, by thine intercessyons.
c. Usually in plural (with singular or plural agreement). In medieval angelology: one of the orders of angels (the fifth in the ninefold celestial hierarchy of Pseudo-Dionysius). Also: an analogous order of demonic beings. Cf. order n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > angel > [noun] > order of > virtues
mightOE
virtuea1325
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun]
evil angel, spiritc950
ghosteOE
uncleanOE
demonOE
devilOE
devilshineOE
groa1225
debleriea1325
devilnessa1400
devilryc1400
sprat?a1475
nicker1481
fiend of hell1509
imp1526
virtue1584
elf1587
succubus1601
blue devilc1616
black man1656
woolsaw1757
buggane1775
bhut1785
demonic1785
pishachi1807
devil-devil1831
skookum1838
taipo1848
lightning bird1870
demonry1883
pisaca1885
mafufunyanas1963
mare1981
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 446 Þe uertues of heuene shulleþ þanne ymeoued beo.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. ii. xvi. 79 Vertues is a companye of angles and here seruise is to do vertues and miracles.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 1125 (MED) Þe steuen moȝt stryke þurȝ þe vrþe to helle Þat þe Vertues of heuen of joye endyte.
a1460 Knyghthode & Bataile (Pembr. Cambr. 243) l. 155 The Potestates myght, ho may be like—The vigoroux vertue so valyaunt.
1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay 4 And siclik thay dremit and maid innumerabil pouers and vertus and laid to siclik orisons.
1575 T. Tymme tr. A. Marlorat Catholike & Eccles. Expos. Iohn 146/2 Hee hath committed these partes in charge, to the Angell. For the which cause the Angelles are called, powers, or vertues.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xv. ii. 379 Two and twentie legions of diuels, partlie of the order of vertues, & partlie of the order of thrones.
1620 F. Quarles Gloria Cœli in Pentelogia 13 Where troups of Powers, Vertues, Cherubins,..Are chaunting praises to their heauenly King.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 460 Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Vertues, Powers. View more context for this quotation
a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo vii, in Wks. (1721) III. 200 Virtues, who turn the Orbs Celestial round.
1812 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Paradiso xxviii. 113 Dominations first; next them, Virtues; and powers the third.
1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 792/1 The author [sc. Pseudo-Dionysius] proceeds to enumerate the nine orders of the heavenly host..thus:—Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominations, Virtues, Powers; Principalities, Archangels, Angels.
1919 Theosophical Path June 585 The sea was visibly the abode of hoary Thrones and Virtues.
2010 S. Gorgievski Face to Face with Angels ii. 41 Individual angels like powers, virtues, and dominations can have a sword and a helmet.
†d. A supernatural or divine being. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19523 (MED) Godds virtu or gret prophet, Or angel elles þai him let.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 1101 Appollo..devyne vertu..helpe to shewe yowe That in myn hede y-marked ys.
c1480 (a1400) St. Peter l. 271 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 15 Than sad symon..‘I sall schaw þe Þe micht of myn dewine poware..for I am the firste wertow [L. virtus] And in the ayre als ma I now fle.’
†4. Valour, courage, or fortitude. Obsolete.Sometimes also implying physical strength or energy, and so overlapping with sense 5a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > manliness > [noun]
manshipc1275
manheadc1300
virtuec1330
manhooda1393
manliheadc1425
manful-hardinessc1450
manlinessc1450
manfulnessc1460
virtuosity1543
man1602
manlikeness1742
ruggedness1845
balls1958
society > morality > virtue > [noun] > manly virtue
virtuec1330
valoura1400
manlinessc1450
virility1603
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 4222 Vp him stirt Bandamagu, A kniȝt of gret vertu.
a1450 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (Caius) (1810) l. 2810 A baroun of gret vertewe.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 5324 (MED) Quat may þi vertu now a-vaile & all þine vayn pride?
c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) l. 1091 Syres put no dowte Vertu shall retorne & haue hys entente. Thys felde shalbe our.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) 1 Quhar for ȝour heroyque vertu, is of mair admiratione.
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin ii. 104 The bastard of Burbon was made prisonner, notwithstanding he fought with great vertue.
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) ii. 139 That great General [sc. Marius], who from a common soldier came by his warlike vertue, to be seauen times Consul.
1710 Ld. Shaftesbury Soliloquy 67 They [sc. the Muses] were more to him than his Arms or military Virtue.
1758 S. Johnson Let. 21 Sept. (1992) I. 167 A Man that languishes with disease, ends his life with more pain, but with less virtue.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. iv. ii. 70 The English were called upon for the utmost exertions of their virtue.
†5.
a. Physical strength, force, or energy. In late use often paired with strength. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily strength > [noun]
mighteOE
avelOE
mainOE
strengthOE
strengthOE
virtuec1330
forcea1375
birr1382
valure1440
firmitude?1541
thews1566
iron1695
invalescence1755
physicals1824
beef1851
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 4016 Anoþer king Arthour hitte, þe bodi to þe nauel he kitte..It was a dint of gret vertu.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke x. 19 I haue ȝouun to ȝou power of defoulinge, othir tredinge, on serpents, and [MS or] scorpiouns, and on al the vertu [L. virtutem] of the enemy.
c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. l. 9291 He myȝt not wel his breth blowe, He was In poynt to ouer-throwe; His vertu hadde he clene lore.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xxxii. 16 Geaunt sall noght be safe in multitude of his vertu.
a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 76 Þou art oure helpe, our vertu, & our strengþe.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) xxviii. f. xxviiv The more he hadde to do, the more grewe hys strength and vertue.
1654 J. Ellistone & J. Sparrow tr. J. Böhme Mysterium Magnum lxvi. 491 From what Power and Authority, that thou in Gods Office drawest to thy selfe the sweate of the poore and miserable, and takest away his strength and vertue, and lettest him starve in want?
b. An armed force or power; (in plural) troops, forces. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warriors collectively > [noun]
trumec893
wic897
ferredc1200
knight-weredc1275
preyc1300
legion?1316
companyc1325
punyec1330
virtuec1350
fellowshipc1380
knightheada1382
knighthooda1382
strengtha1382
sop?a1400
strengh?a1400
tropelc1425
armyc1450
framec1450
preparing1497
armourya1500
cohortc1500
cohortationc1500
cateran?a1513
venlin1541
troop1545
guidon1560
crew1570
preparation1573
esquadron1579
bodya1616
armada1654
expedition1693
armament1698
host1807
war-party1921
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) cxxxv. 15 (MED) Þe Lord..smote Pharaon and his vertuz [L. virtutum] in þe Reed See.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Macc. xiii. 54 And Symont seeȝ Joon, his sone, that he was a man of bateil, and he putte hym duyk of alle vertues [L. virtutum].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Macc. i. 4 And he gadride vertu [L. virtutem], and ful stronge oost.
c. Flourishing state or condition. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > flourishing condition
statea1387
verdour1447
virtuec1450
thrivingc1460
provinga1529
prospering?1567
verdurec1595
flourish1597
efflorescency1649
efflorescence1672
flourishing1717
flourishment1724
booming1881
c1450 (?c1400) Three Kings Cologne (Cambr. Ee.4.32) (1886) 8 Whan þe citee of Acon..florisshed and stode in his vertue, Ioye and prosperite.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iii. xvi. f. lxiiiv He that gouerneth not wel his bely with grete payne he may hold the other lymmes in theyr strengthe and vertue.
6.
a. Superiority or excellence in a particular sphere; ability, merit, or distinction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > [noun] > unusual or excellent
periwinkle?c1335
virtuea1382
prowessa1668
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. x. 2 And [God] ladde hym out fro his gilte,..and ȝaf to hym vertue [L. virtutem] of hauynge alle thingus.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 526 Now shal men se Yf any vertu in the be To tel al my dreme aryght.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope xii. f. cxii For what vertue that ony man hath, none oughte to preyse hym self.
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 264 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 103 Yir fowlis..weraly awysit full of wertewe The maner ye mater and how It remanyt.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 164 Thow hes walkit, I wis, in mony wyld land, The mair vertew thow suld haue, to keip the fra blame.
1598 T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer sig. A.viv Vertue flourisheth in Chaucer still, Though death of him, hath wrought his will.
1631 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husbandry (ed. 6) i. ii. 10 Our English Gentry..aime for the most part at no more skill than the riding of a ridden and perfect horse, which is but onely the setting forth of another mans vertue.
1781 M. J. Armstrong Hist. & Antiq. Norfolk IX. Hundred of Smithdon 55 [His] public virtue as a national senator, and amiable conduct as a gentleman and magistrate.
1875 H. N. Hudson Text-bk. Poetry p. iv A taste for a good author is a thing of slow and silent growth..: to the forming and fixing of it nothing will serve, but that the author's virtue just soak into the mind from communing with him.
1907 Fortn. Rev. Oct. 575 He exactly indicated where Crabbe's power and virtue as a poet lay.
1983 E. Salmon Granville Barker (1984) iii. 70 The very title of the play provides a nice example..of the curious mixture of artistic virtue with artistic error.
2001 D. Gabaldon Fiery Cross 223 Mrs. Bug might have the flaws of her greatness, but I couldn't help but admit her virtue as a housekeeper.
b. An advantageous or desirable quality; an ability, a proficiency.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > [noun] > ability or talent
enginea1393
virtuea1425
kindnessc1425
part1561
vogue1590
disposition1600
talent1602
genio1612
genius1649
turn1721
aptitude1793
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > specifically of person
virtuea1425
quality1607
a1425 (?a1350) Seven Sages (Galba) (1907) l. 148 (MED) If mi son so wele may lere To kun ȝowre vertuse..Sertes þan wald I be blithe.
c1450 (a1400) R. Lavynham Treat. Seven Deadly Sins (Harl. 211) (1956) 2 (MED) The ȝiftis of grace be sundry vertewys þt god ȝeuyth a man, as Eloquence in spekyng.
1697 B. Kennett Lives & Characters Anc. Grecian Poets i. 103 The first of these Virtues has made his Oedipus the General Rule and Model of true Plotting. The other is that Λογιότης which Plutarch fixes as the distinguishing mark of his Character, and of his Fame.
1753 J. Hill Observ. Greek & Rom. Classics 139 No Author has equalled him in this [sc. the being accurate and punctual], perhaps he has even carried the virtue to a fault.
1828 T. B. Macaulay Hallam's Constit. Hist. in Edinb. Rev. Sept. 150 That unsparing impartiality which is his [sc. Hallam's] most distinguishing virtue.
1897 H. S. Constable Equality vi. 43 Those energetic and active men who possess the virtues necessary for acquiring the wealth necessary for civilization.
1906 Punch 10 Oct. 270/1 So shining are her virtues as a teller of tales that we must needs overlook apparent errors of judgment.
1969 Montana Standard 19 Jan. 6/3 Robert H. Finch has all the virtues needed to fight off a Humphrey-Kennedy ticket.
1993 W. Koestenbaum in D. Bock Little Bk. Opera (1996) 42 Her [sc. Maria Callas's] body was a liability she had the power to revise; her voice was a virtue she lacked the power to retain.
c. A social or domestic accomplishment. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [noun] > acquired skill > an accomplishment
quality1584
accomplishment1586
sufficiency1590
complement1592
virtuea1600
enduement1609
preparationa1616
completion1662
qualification1699
accompliment1705
a1600 MS Rec. Aberdeen in J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (1825) Suppl. at Wertews The singeir to pas & remane in Pareis for ane yeir to leir wertews.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xix. 207 Proclaime that I can sing, weaue, sow, & dance, with other vertues, which Ile keep from boast. View more context for this quotation
1615 G. Markham (title) in Countrey Contentm. ii. sig. Q The English Hus-Wife, Contayning, The inward and outward vertues which ought to be in a compleat woman. As, her skill in Physicke, Cookery, [etc.].
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iii. i. 305 Sp. Item, she can wash and scoure. La. A speciall vertue . View more context for this quotation
1656 Duchess of Newcastle True Relation in Natures Pictures 370 Tutors..for all sorts of Vertues, as singing, dancing, playing on Musick, reading, writing, working, and the like.
a1832 W. Scott Mem. Early Years in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Sir W. Scott (1837) I. i. 11 Robert sung agreeably—(a virtue which was never seen in me).
1991 Princess Michael of Kent Cupid & King v. 299 Typical Victorian virtues like embroidery, or watercolour painting or flower pressing.
7. = virtu n. 1. Frequently in object (also piece, article, etc.) of virtue (see virtu n. 1e).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [noun] > love or study of the arts
virtuosity1673
virtue1709
virtu1722
dilettantism1808
dilettanteship1835
art appreciation1857
dilettantedom1887
1709 Tatler No. 38. ⁋12 He has by rote, and at second-hand, all that can be said of any man of figure, wit, and virtue in town.
1809 Irish Mag. Dec. 551/1 His deep erudition in gouty stocking weaving, his taste in religion, and his gusto in painting, must make his gallery an object to the lovers of virtue.
1828 Edinb. Rev. Sept. 61 The Italians commonly call a taste for the fine arts, or skill in them, by the name of Virtue.
1887 E. Field Culture's Garland 188 A wealthy pork-packer who lives near my house, brought back from the Morgan sale two ‘rare pieces of virtue’, as he terms them.
1922 Southern Reporter 90 614/1 Pictures, engravings, firearms, bicycles, bronzes, statuary, articles of virtue, [etc.].
1995 W. Smith Seventh Scroll 241 It was an extraordinary collection of junk and treasures, of objects of virtue and garish bric-a-brac.
II. As a quality of things (influenced by earlier phrasal uses at Phrases 1).
8. Power, efficacy, worth.
a. With reference to a precious stone: magical power, esp. for healing or protection; (in later use also) great worth or value. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun] > white or natural magic > beneficial power of stones
virtuea1300
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > [noun] > quality of precious stone
virtuea1300
water1598
eye1699
a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 73 Hwat spekstu of eny stone þat beoþ in vertu oþer in grace.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 4425 Þe ston..was of so stif vertu, þat neuer man vpon mold miȝt it him on haue, ne schuld he with wicche-craft be wicched neuer-more.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 9198 (MED) Þus may a man..Alle þe cete of heven lyken..to precyouse stanes of vertow.
c1450 (?a1400) Sege Melayne (1880) l. 978 (MED) His helme & his hawberke holde, Frette ouere with rede golde, With stones of vertue dere.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 341 A coronall of golde sette with stonys of vertu to the valew of a thousand pounde.
?1504 S. Hawes Example of Vertu sig. gg.iiv The roof was set with stones of vertue.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xxvii. 127 With perles and rubies rubicond, Mixte with emerauds so full of vertue.
1657 J. Rowland tr. J. Johnstone Hist. Wonderful Things of Nature iv. xxi. 111 The Emerald hath wonderful vertue; It is an Enemy to poysons and bitings of venemous beasts.
1669 Hist. Sir Eger 52 My stones of vertue stemd the blood.
1797 H. T. Colebrooke tr. J. Tarkapañcānana Digest Hindu Law I. ii. §lxx. 125 Interest accrues..on..stones of great virtue and price, vitreous substances and the like.
1887 W. A. Clouston Pop. Tales & Fictions I. 225 If it won't dwell with any buyer, but creep into his purse, he dare safely swear there is virtue in the stone.
1892 F. B. Gummere Germanic Origins xiii. 379 They [sc. elves] know and impart the secrets of medicinal herbs and stones of virtue.
1901 A. E. W. Mason Ensign Knightley 269 The Sieur Rudel.., a chain set with stones of great virtue about his neck.
2011 J. Ware Stone of Destiny xxiii. 260 Folklore is rich in legends about stones of virtue and power.
†b. In Christian contexts: power or efficacy resulting from the moral or holy character of a thing; influence working for good upon human life or conduct. Also (in early use): miraculous power. Cf. senses 9c and 3a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > [noun] > efficacy or influence of a moral nature
virtuec1300
the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun] > working wonders or miracles > miraculous power
virtuec1300
c1300 St. Margarete (Harl.) l. 316 in O. Cockayne Seinte Marherete (1866) 33 Of gret vertu is hire lyf, ho so þeron þoȝte.
c1300 St. Andrew (Harl.) l. 40 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S.-Eng. Legendary (1956) 544 If þu woldest þat soþe ihure..Gret vertu ich wole þe telle of þe swete holi rode.
a1425 Comm. in H. R. Bramley Rolle's Psalter (1884) 1 In þis boke is muche vertu, to reders wiþ deuocyown.
?1435 ( J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 636 Thes ryall gifftes ben off vertue moste Goostly corages, moste sovereynly delyte.
1548 H. Latimer Notable Serm. sig. C.vii Purposynge to euacuate Christes death, and to make it of smal efficacitie and vertue.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 14 Our Baptisme dotit with sanctitude, And greit vertew, to wesche our sinfulness.
1720 J. Willison Sacramental Catech. 35 It is only Christ, who, by his Spirit, puts Life and Vertue in the Sacraments.
1841–8 F. Myers Catholic Thoughts II. iii. §17. 64 Few questions..could well be more important, if Divine virtue is to be ascribed to every letter of Scripture.
c. gen. Power, efficacy; excellence, worth; benefit, advantage.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun]
goodnessOE
mund?c1250
daintethc1290
bountyc1300
daintyc1300
excellencec1384
virtuea1393
excellency?a1400
nobilitya1400
meritc1425
singularity?c1450
fineness1523
admirationa1533
rareness1545
rightness1561
rariety1566
rarity1566
excellentness1569
beautya1586
admirableness1607
primeness1611
gallantry1650
eximiety1656
optimity1656
altesse1660
unexceptionableness1669
excellingness1701
quality1803
sterlingness1815
stupendosity1828
goodliness1832
superbness1832
unexceptionability1837
sweetness and light1867
class1884
rortiness1885
rippingness1903
superstardom1928
motherfucker1977
awesomeness1998
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. l. 449 Selden get a domb man lond: Tak that proverbe, and understond That wordes ben of vertu grete.
c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) xx (MED) In ver, that full of vertu is and gude..nature first begynneth hir enpris.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 129 The walles [were] vp wroght..With stones full stoute stithest of vertue.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. i. sig. M7v The blade..Was of no less vertue, then of fame. View more context for this quotation
1666 Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 282 Yet have these two Load-stones no connexion or tye, though a Common Center of Virtue according to which they joyntly act.
1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 339 The latter [sc. cinnamon] is vastly superior in richness, sweetness, and virtue.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 59 There is virtue in a bushel of coals properly consumed, to raise seventy millions of pounds weight a foot high.
1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xiv. 108 ‘If words won't do, I'll try what vartue there is in stones,’ said Mr. Shooks, who thereupon..fairly pelted her away.
1883 N.Y. Christian Union 21 June The new Sound steamer ‘Pilgrim’ is regarded as a model of mechanical and constructional virtue.
1951 Imago Mundi 8 3 The idea that the adamant stone had magnetic virtue.
2008 J. North Cosmos xix. 702 There is some virtue in relieving government agencies of the need to decide on such thorny questions.
d. With reference to a plant, liquid, or other substance: power to affect the body in a beneficial manner; strengthening, sustaining, or healing power. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > [noun] > good health > state of being conducive to > that which is conducive to
virtuea1393
quarta1400
non-natural1696
doctor1740
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 1317 His herbe is Anabulla named, Which is of gret vertu proclamed.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1016 Treis o frut þan es þar sett þat serekin vertu has at ette.
?1435 ( J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 643 Yee shall drawe waters..Oute off welles off oure Savyour, Which have vertue to curen alle langour.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 167 Herb without vertew thow hald nocht of sic pryce As herb of vertew and of odor sueit.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 31 It is sayde that there is an other Magadaris in Lybia... It hath like vertu with Laserpitio.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. vii. 117 No Cataplasme..Collected from all simples that haue vertue Vnder the Moone, can saue the thing from death. View more context for this quotation
1678 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 48 A wolfes tooth for my pritty godson, that Lady Fingall gave me as a thinge of much vertu..and antidotal against convulsions.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Birds-Eye An Herb..of singular Virtue against the Palsey.
1778 S. Johnson Let. 15 Oct. (1992) III. 128 The second [night]..not so much better as that I dare ascribe any virtue to the medicine.
1841–8 F. Myers Catholic Thoughts II. iii. §27. 102 Distilling healing virtue into better waters.
1865 F. Parkman Huguenots i, in Pioneers of France in New World 6 There was a fountain of such virtue that, bathing in its waters, old men resumed their youth.
1903 P. W. Joyce Social Hist. Anc. Ireland I. xviii. 627 Lusmore , or fairy-thimble (digitalis purpurea), an herb of potent virtue in fairy-cures.
1918 J. A. MacCulloch in L. H. Gray & G. F. Moore Mythol. All Races III. 110 While she went to gather herbs of virtue, she set the blind Mordu to kindle the fire.
†e. With reference to a law, pledge, etc.: force, power. Often paired with force or strength. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > [noun] > strict terms or enforcement of law
virtue1410
rigourc1425
the rigour of the lawc1425
rigour1426
1410–11 in C. Innes Registrum Episcopatus Brechinensis (1856) I. 31 The bischop of Brechineis borrowis foirsaid is of wertu and force.
1474–5 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1472 3rd Roll §56. m. 2 That the said late ordenaunce..be and stond in strenght and vertue unto the .xxvi. day of May.
?a1475 (?a1425) in tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1882) VIII. App. 511 Whiche statute was ordeynede to take vertu and begynnynge at the feste of the Purificacion.
1586 in Juridical Rev. 4 299 That exceptioun of the law that the decreit of ane inferior judge can not prejudge the soverainn is not altogidder of vertue.
1652 M. Nedham tr. J. Selden Of Dominion of Sea 59 The Sea-Laws which were used and in full force and virtue in both the Empires were borrowed from the Rhodians.
1686 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) I. 171 All those laws shall and are hereby Continued to Stand and be in full force and Vertue untill ye End of the first Session.
1766 in Laws State Delaware (1797) II. 427 All other clauses, matters and things, in the said act contained, shall be and are hereby declared to be in full force, strength and virtue.
9. With the or possessive, applied to a particular quality or power associated with a thing.
a. The beneficial or healing properties of a plant, liquid, or other substance; (also) the magical or occult power or influence of an object, planet, etc. Cf. senses 8a, 8d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > [noun] > healing quality
virtuec1300
medicinableness1660
sanativenessa1661
curativeness1822
c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 428 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 312 Al-so man, ȝwane he is i-bore, onder heore [sc. the planets'] power, i-wis, Schullen habbe diuers lijf, euere ase heore vertue is.
c1300 Holy Cross (Laud) l. 306 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 10 Þat watur huy loueden swiþe muche..Ake huy nusten nouȝt of þat treo þat al þe vertue made.
c1330 Horn Child l. 567 in J. Hall King Horn (1901) 185 Rimneld..bitauȝt him aring Þe vertu wele sche knewe.
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 1660 Þilke monk sorgien was, Þe vertu he knewe of mani a gras.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 32 (MED) Who so kutte hem [sc. balm branches] with jren, it wolde destroye his vertue & his nature.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) i. 37 A drynke..whiche is swete to taste, & effectuall to hele the woundes of synners by hys verteu.
1593 Earl of Shrewsbury in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. III. 39 I would your Lordship wolde once make trial of my Oyle of Stags blud, for I am strongly persuaded of the rare and great vertu thereof.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §17 It is an Errour in Phisicians, to rest simply vpon the Length of stay, for encreasing the vertue. But if you will haue the Infusion strong [etc.].
1640 T. Nabbes Bride i. ii. sig. B2v Like those pills which an unwilling patient Doubting their vertue takes.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Dignity Dignities are the Advantages a Planet has upon account of its being in a particular place of the Zodiack..by which means its Influences and Virtue are encreas'd.
1772 W. Cullen Lect. Materia Medica 258 The Horse-radish, as very volatile, loses its virtue, when kept.
1845 M. Pattison in Christian Remembrancer Jan. 73 The wonder-working remains of the Apostle of Gaul... The virtue of St. Martin's precious relics.
1921 N. Amer. Veterinarian May 223/2 Let frequency of irrigation..be your sheet anchor in the prevention of metritis, rather than to depend on the virtue of any antiseptic.
1994 G. Leick Sex & Eroticism in Mesopotamian Lit. 289 The medicinal virtue of the plant was thought to encourage lactation and menstruation.
b. gen. The power, benefit, or worth of a thing; the element or factor which makes something powerful or effective. Cf. sense 8c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > specifically of immaterial things
virtuec1330
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > quality of being choice
virtuec1330
choiceness1605
selectness1727
c1330 (?c1300) Speculum Guy (Auch.) (1898) l. 658 If þu couþest knowe and se Þe uertu of humilite.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. l. 865 The vertu of hire goodly speche Is verraily myn hertes leche.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Squire's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 302 But finally the kyng axeth this knyght The vertu of this Courser, and the myght And preyed hym to telle his gouernaunce.
1449–50 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1449 §53. m. 15 That the seid lettres patentes..aftre the strengthe, forme and vertue of the same,..stonde and abide in the force and vertue.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Wisd. xix. 19 The fyre had power in the water (contrary to his awne vertue).
1563 J. Man tr. W. Musculus Common Places Christian Relig. 28 The Apostle witnesseth, that the law is the vertue of sinne.
1592 S. Daniel Complaynt of Rosamond in Delia sig. K.3v Pleasure had set my wel-skoold thoughts to play, And bade me vse the vertue of mine eyes.
a1628 J. Preston Treat. Effectual Faith 118 in Breast-plate of Faith (1631) It if bee the vertue of a horse to goe well; If it be the vertue of a knife to cut well, if it be the vertue of a Soldier to fight well.
1642 J. March Argument Militia 18 The name of a Parliament onely, & not the power and vertue of it.
1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 41 Whether the Harwich..suffered any thing from her said sheathing, in her virtue of Sailing.
1746 J. Wesley Princ. Methodist farther Explain'd 61 Works beyond the Virtue of Natural Causes, wrought by the Power of Evil Spirits.
1759 J. Mills tr. H. L. Duhamel du Monceau Pract. Treat. Husbandry i. ix. 52 By this means the sun..will be prevented from exhaling the virtue of your manure.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 170 A piece of soft iron..capable of supporting as much as the magnet from which it derives its virtue.
1857 F. W. Robertson's Serm. 3rd Ser. xiii. 197 He hath imparted to us the virtue of His wrestlings.
1899 S. MacManus In Chimney Corners 176 The vartue was in the bridle, for the minnit Donal shuk it at him the loy-on give over his rampagin', an' let Donal slip the bridle on him.
1920 J. C. Varney Sketches Soviet Russia 144 Anna's favorite record would have ten times the musical virtue.
2000 P. Ceruzzi in R. Rojas & U. Hashagen First Computers ii. 198 This was called a single-address scheme. Its virtue was its simplicity.
†c. In Christian contexts: the divine power of a holy object, religious observance, etc.; the spiritual force or influence of an event, as the Passion of Christ. Cf. sense 8b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > [noun] > spiritual force or influence
virtuea1387
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 257 (MED) Þe vertue..was i-ȝeve to the water to brynge forþ children gostliche whanne þe circumsicioun gan to cese.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 3821 Pardon..es of þe tresur of haly kirke, Þat es gadirde..Of þe vertu of Crestes passion.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 3291 Þe writ he dide rede; For þe vertu of þat orisoun Was vn-to hym ful proteccioun.
1557 Bible (Whittingham) Phil. iii. 10 That I may knowe him, and the vertue of his resurrection.
a1629 W. Hinde Faithfull Remonstr. (1641) li. 168 Doth not the vertue of the death and resurrection of Christ require it, that henceforth wee die unto sin?
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. I. iv. 379 The virtue of the cross, and..the efficacy of the sacraments.
10. As a count noun: a specific power or quality.
a. A power inherent in a thing; a capacity for producing a certain effect; an active property or principle; a faculty. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > [noun] > a property, quality, or attribute
i-cundeOE
kindOE
thingOE
quality1340
virtue1340
assizea1375
propertyc1390
principlea1398
conditionc1460
faculty1490
predicatea1513
epitheton1547
passion1570
propriety1584
affection1588
attribute1603
qualification1616
appropriate1618
intimacy1641
bedighting1674
belonger1674
cleaver1674
interiority1701
internal property1751
predicable1785
coloration1799
internality1839
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 19 (MED) Þe uirtues of þe bodie and þe þoȝtes and þe consentemens and þe willes of þe zaule wasteþ and despendeþ ine folyes and ine outrages to-uore þe eȝen of his lhorde.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 15 Þe vertues of lymes þou must knowe, þat he se, whanne þe worchinge of ony vartu failiþ in ony lyme.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 4 Whan that Aueryll..hath..bathed every veyne in swich lycour Of which vertu engendred is the flour.
c1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert (1910) 120 Hir left harme had lost þe vertue of felyng.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde iii. viii. sig. k4 The sterres that ben on heuen whiche haue vertues on therthe.
1544 Bk. Chyldren in T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe (new ed.) sig. d.viiiv When a chylde neseth oute of measure, that is to saye, w[ith] a longe continuaunce, and therby the brayne and vertues animall infebled, it is good to stoppe it.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 206 (margin) Money is of so great a vertue that it corrupteth Popes.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iii. xxi. 188 This moisture from heaven hath such a vertue, that ceasing to fal vpon the earth, it breedes a great discommoditie and defect of graine and seedes.
1684 R. Waller tr. Ess. Nat. Exper. Acad. del Cimento 46 The imperceptible pores of those passages by which the attractive Virtue issues out.
1709 T. Robinson Ess. Nat. Hist. Westmorland & Cumberland v. 26 A very active Principle, or Virtue, that operates in the Generation of Stones.
1755 B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. 389 What seems most wonderful, is, that the magnetic Virtue should not be interrupted by the Glass.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 276 It is not meant that there is any peculiar virtue or charm in the point called the centre.
1856 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) II. viii. iv. 53 Each planet, according to its mind or mood, shed virtues healing or harmful into minerals and herbs.
1934 A. D. Waley Way & its Power 32 Tê means a latent power, a ‘virtue’ inherent in something.
1962 M. Boas Sci. Renaissance 1450–1630 iv. 120 The Earth no less than the planets is animate, because it possesses a magnetic virtue.
b. A medicinal property of a plant, liquid, or other substance; a property which affects the body in a beneficial manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [noun] > power or virtue of something
gracec1300
virtuea1398
faculty1490
force1600
quality1647
magnes1649
efforta1680
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vii. lxix. 435 Him [sc. a good phisician] nediþ to knowe complexions, vertues, and worchinges of medicynable þinges.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 1011 Mony vertues þere is sene þe erbes euer I-liche grene.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xiv. l. 37 Vitailles of grete vertues, for al manere bestes.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 991 Thys Salamon was wyse, and knew all the vertues of stonys and treys.
1551 W. Turner New Herball Prol. sig. Aiij I declare also the vertues of euery herbe.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. ii. f. 32v Wild asses, whiche haue in their head a stone, hauing the vertue against the falling sicknes.
1649 E. Reynolds Israels Prayer (new ed.) i. 22 Wine draweth a nourishing vertue from the flesh of Vipers.
1699 L. Wafer New Voy. & Descr. Isthmus Amer. 191 The Sulphurousness, or other Virtue of this Water.
1765 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) I. vii. 177 It is said in the note that Sir Nathaniel was famed for painting plants, and well skilled in their virtues.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 324 The plants of this class are supposed to have various specific virtues.
1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 327 Have practitioners yet proved the full virtues of the digitalis?
1836 J. Murray Hand-bk. for Travellers on Continent 340/2 The hot mineral springs..owe their virtues to the presence of sulphur and alkaline salts.
1901 E. Eggleston Transit Civilization ii. 90 Alexipharmical mixtures and remedies whose supposed virtues have no rational basis.
1955 G. Grigson Englishman's Flora xlviii. 224 As the home-grown Mandrake, Bryony acquired a chief virtue of the true Mandragora officinalis.
2004 G. Hatfield Encycl. Folk Med. 328/2 So-called fasting spittle, the first saliva in the mouth on waking, is supposed to have particular virtues in healing warts and ringworm.
c. A desirable or beneficial quality or feature of a thing; a merit, a good point.
ΚΠ
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iv. pr. vi. l. 4034 Þat þei sholden conferme þe vertues of corage by þe vsage and exercitacioun of pacience.
1486 Coote Armuris sig. ai, in Bk. St. Albans Ther ben here the vertuys of chyualry.
1556 in tr. A. Mainardi Anatomi iv. v. f. 132v Thei haue fownd that it [sc. Mass] is good for euery thing, and that it hath vertews innumerable.
1660 R. Allestree Gentlemans Calling 39 Water sent from one fountain through several pipes, is the same, and hath equal vertues or faults in each.
1675 T. Hobbes in tr. Homer Odysses To Rdr. sig. B Concerning The Vertues of an Heroique Poem.
1731 T. Cooke Triumphs Honour & Love 44 Who wou'd, with Sword in Hand, the Fort invade, And shew the Virtues of a—pushing Blade.
1835 G. Stephen Adventures in Search of Horse ix. 125 Steadiness is a great virtue in a gig-horse.
1892 Archit. Rev. 1 66/2 Of necessity it takes more space to point out the few shortcomings of a book than to praise its many virtues.
1920 Printers' Ink 29 July 117/1 Age is a great virtue in whiskey, wine and ruins, but not in advertising.
1961 Econometrica 29 733 Both seem to consider it a virtue of this approach that it does not follow from any theory of consistent or random choice.
1975 Times 8 Mar. 10/4 Cheapness is often the only virtue of the British pub lunch.
2011 N.Y. Times Mag. 27 Mar. 34/2 She extolled the virtues of broccoli and regular exercise.

Phrases

P1. With of in prepositional phrases. Cf. branch II.
a. in virtue of (also in the virtue of): = by virtue of at Phrases 1c. [Compare post-classical Latin in virtute (with the genitive) in consequence (of) (frequently from 12th cent. in British sources), Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French en vertu de by the authority of (end of the 13th cent. or earlier), in consequence of (1668).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > cause or reason > [phrase] > because of
in virtue ofa1250
by (also for) reason ofa1350
by the virtue ofa1375
by the cause ofc1405
by occasion ofc1425
for cause ofc1425
by way of1447
for suit of1451
in respect of1528
in consideration of1540
in regard of1600
in intuition to1626
by or in vigour of1636
along1680
in view of1710
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > by the instrumentality of [phrase]
in virtue ofa1250
by (also with) strength of1340
by the virtue ofa1375
by way ofa1393
by (also through) (the) means (also mean) ofa1398
by remedy ofa1398
by force of1411
by feat of1489
by (occasionally through) the benefit ofa1538
in the way of1622
by the way of1623
by (the) dint of1664
by the force of1697
perforce of1714
a1250 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Titus) (1940) 160 (MED) Engel & meiden beon euening in uertu of meidenhades mihte.
c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Laud) l. 460 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 444 Þe bischop..in vertue of obedience hiet him at þe laste Þat he ne scholde it nouȝht bi-leue godes wille to wurche.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 18 Þe kyng with þe maistrie went in to þe toun, Þe pris he had wonnen, in vertew of Criste's passioun.
c1450 Med. Recipes (BL Add. 33996) in F. Heinrich Mittelengl. Medizinbuch (1896) 138 (MED) I coniure ȝow fyue croppes in þe verteu of þe v woundes þat crist suffred on þe roode treo.
1485 W. Caxton tr. Thystorye & Lyf Charles the Grete sig. kvi/1 Charles knewe not what to do but to praye god and saynt Iames for whom he went that in the vertu of hys name he myght take that cyte.
1617 in S. R. Gardiner Fortescue Papers (1871) 29 They should talke of the points of religion but by way of discourse, and not as in vertue of the commission [etc.].
1660 Bp. J. Taylor Worthy Communicant i. iv. 75 Christ in heaven perpetually offers and represents that sacrifice to his heavenly Father and in vertue of that obtaines all good things for his church.
1686 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II II. vii. 781 By interceding for us as Priest in the vertue of his Sacrifice.
a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 104 In vertue of which perswasion, the Olives, and Olive stones, and Oyl which they produce, became an excellent commodity in Spain.
1754 T. Sherlock Several Disc. preached at Temple Church I. ii. 77 He was the Head of all Creatures in virtue of having created them.
1833 H. Martineau Three Ages ii. 39 In virtue of an office which he held, he had liberty to pass through the palace garden.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xiii. 188 He remained a senator in virtue of his quæstorship.
1918 Insurance Law Jrnl. 51 54 In the virtue of the fact that there was a personal occupancy of the dwelling the Supreme Court held that the dwelling did not become unoccupied.
1926 E. F. Scott First Age Christianity i. 16 In virtue of his priestly descent the Asmonaean king could also hold the office of high-priest.
2008 Ethical Theory & Moral Pract. 11 531 Words are not persuasive or propagandistic in virtue of their meaning, but in virtue of the conclusion they are used to implicitly support.
b. through virtue of (also through the virtue of): = by virtue of at Phrases 1c. Now somewhat rare. [See the etymological note at by virtue of.]
ΚΠ
a1275 St. Margaret (Trin. Cambr.) l. 179 in A. S. M. Clark Seint Maregrete & Body & Soul (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Michigan) (1972) 62 Sclawen was þe dragun þoru þe uertu of þe rod.
c1300 Holy Cross (Laud) 346 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 11 (MED) Þoruȝ vertue of þe holie croiz he ouer-cam alle is fon.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 5053 Þe barouns..prayede god þorw vertue of hem Schold sauye hem thar fro heþe men.
c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 237 (MED) He come to þe Gildehall of London, and axede þe keies of þe ȝates of þe citee þrouȝ vertue and strengh of his commission.
1432 Charter Edinb. Reg. House No. 285 Throw uertu of a letter of baileȝere ȝifin to me.
1595 T. Bedingfield tr. N. Machiavelli Florentine Hist. ii. 28 In the old time we see, that through vertue of these Collonies, Citties were often made new.
a1658 J. Durham Heaven upon Earth (1685) 361 To flee to Jesus Christ, and through virtue of his satisfaction and blood..to rest on him for pardon.
1793 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 1014/2 The forts, harbours, &c. were theirs, not through virtue of their territorial possessions, but purchased.
1871 Once a Week 2 Dec. 489/2 She holds the crown through virtue of succession through her sister.
1923 Pop. Mech. June 29 Vital organs function through virtue of the contracting power of the muscles.
1955 Washington Post 10 Nov. 38/3 A tight-lipped man is he and only through the virtue of its well-known beneficence has CARE prevailed on him to face the public.
1989 O. Sacks Seeing Voices ii. 60 Nor are we, as parents, called on to ‘teach’ our children language; they acquire it, or seem to, in the most automatic way, through virtue of being children.
c. by virtue of (also by the virtue of): (originally) by the power or efficacy of; by the authority of; (in later use usually) in consequence of, because of. [After Anglo-Norman par vertu de, Middle French par la vertu de by the authority of (1283 in Old French).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > cause or reason > [phrase] > because of
in virtue ofa1250
by (also for) reason ofa1350
by the virtue ofa1375
by the cause ofc1405
by occasion ofc1425
for cause ofc1425
by way of1447
for suit of1451
in respect of1528
in consideration of1540
in regard of1600
in intuition to1626
by or in vigour of1636
along1680
in view of1710
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > by the instrumentality of [phrase]
in virtue ofa1250
by (also with) strength of1340
by the virtue ofa1375
by way ofa1393
by (also through) (the) means (also mean) ofa1398
by remedy ofa1398
by force of1411
by feat of1489
by (occasionally through) the benefit ofa1538
in the way of1622
by the way of1623
by (the) dint of1664
by the force of1697
perforce of1714
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 284 I þe coniure..bi vertu of þing þat þou most in þis world louest.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §266 It may wel wexe feble and faile by vertu of baptesme & by the grace of god thurgh penitence.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 32 He schal be excused fro þe lasse bi þe vertue of þe heiȝere iuge.
1495 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1495 §28. m. 18 Noo..persone the whiche..therwith entermedlede to your use or by vertu of your lettres patentes.
a1500 Warkworth's Chron. (1839) 18 Kynge Edwarde..requyrede hyme by the vertu of the sacrament that he schulde pardone alle tho whos names here folowe.
1553 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 149 By vertue of a warraunte sygned with her Maiesties oune handes.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1376/2 They shall loose the fiue shillings that they should receiue..by vertue of my will.
1617 Sir T. Wentworth Let. 15 Sept. in S. R. Gardiner Fortescue Papers (1871) 25 Wher indeed he was in effect out of the Commission before, by vertu of that direction.
1654 R. Codrington tr. Justinus Hist. xvi. 254 [Many of them] delivered themselves from their..calamities by the virtue of an ingenious shame.
1686 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II II. vii. 890 So we Christians by vertue of our Covenant with God in Christ, are separated from all other Societies.
1718 W. Wood Surv. Trade 174 The Persons, who..are in Possession of them, by virtue of old Grants.
1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob of Arcot's Private Debts 3 No others, by virtue of general powers, can obtain a legal title to intrude themselves into that trust.
1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece III. xxiii. 287 The refugees who retired by virtue of the treaty from Amphipolis, found shelter at Eion.
1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. §374 The planets, when they are visible, appear as stars, and, like the stars, they rise and set by virtue of the Earth's rotation.
1903 Jrnl. Electr., Power & Gas May 235/2 By the virtue of its high internal resistance, the carbon brush cuts down the current..to a low value.
1963 J. H. Humphrey & R. G. White Immunol. for Students of Med. xi. 359 Male skin may be rejected by a female recipient, by virtue of the fact that the Y chromosome can carry sex-linked genetic differences.
2008 Independent 9 Aug. 39/3 The programmes were deeply affecting by virtue of the sadness and frustration of the people we encountered.
†d. with virtue of = by virtue of at Phrases 1c. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. sig. E8 So..Must Tamburlaine by their resistlesse powers, With vertue of a gentle victorie, Conclude a league of honor to my hope.
P2.
a. to make a virtue of necessity and variants: to derive benefit or advantage from performing an unwelcome obligation with apparent willingness; to submit to unavoidable circumstances with good grace. Cf. to make the best of it at best adj., n.1, and adv. Phrases 4c(a). [Compare Middle French faire de necessité vertu (1342), post-classical Latin facere de necessitate virtutem (early 5th cent. in Jerome adversus Rufinum 3. 2).]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute or vacillate [verb (intransitive)] > give way or give in > to circumstances > with apparent willingness
to make a virtue of necessityc1405
to make a virtue of a needa1500
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Squire's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 585 That I made vertu of necessitee And took it wel syn þt it moste be.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 1586 Thus makeþ vertue of necessite. By pacient and þenk þat lord is he. Of fortune ay þat nought wole of here recche.
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 1252 Make of necessite, reed I, vertu; ffor better rede can I non.
1578 G. Whetstone Promos & Cassandra: 2nd Pt. v. v. sig. Mj Good Maddame way, by lawe, your Lord doth dye, Wherefore make vertue of necessity.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. i. f. 5 Therefore wee must force our will, and make it sometime content it selfe with that it liketh not, whereof followeth a vertue of necessitie.
1583 T. Stocker tr. Tragicall Hist. Ciuile Warres Lowe Countries i. f. 28v They were enforced to behaue themselues..and of necessitie, to make a vertue.
1615 J. Day Festivals 297 I wil make a Vertue of this Necessitie.
1641 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. F. Biondi Hist. Civil Warres Eng. I. v. 115 Villandras weighing the danger made vertue of necessity, hee went to Toulosse.
1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. ix. 144 Their Modern Doctors, whom the Arguments of the Protestants have compelled to make a Vertue of Necessity.
a1708 W. Beveridge Thes. Theologicus (1711) III. 59 By patience you make a vertue of necessity.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 327 He makes a virtue of necessity, and hospitably rows him to shore.
1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene II. ii. 233 One must always make a virtue of necessity.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany iv. 42 I therefore made a virtue of necessity, and was a good Catholic for the nonce.
1927 W. S. Churchill Let. 22 Oct. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) xiii. 314 I am going to support the Flappers' Vote on the well known principle of making a virtue out of necessity.
1980 ‘J. Melville’ Chrysanthemum Chain 38 We'll make a virtue of necessity. I'll take charge of the case myself.
2002 Austral. Financial Rev. 15 Nov. (Review section) 4/5 Making in the best manner a virtue out of a necessity he went native with great success.
b. Originally Scottish. to make a virtue of a need and variants: = to make a virtue of necessity at Phrases 2a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute or vacillate [verb (intransitive)] > give way or give in > to circumstances > with apparent willingness
to make a virtue of necessityc1405
to make a virtue of a needa1500
a1500 De Regimine Principum (Fairf.) 174 in W. A. Craigie Maitland Folio MS (1927) II. 85 Þus mon þou mak of neid vertu.
a1505 R. Henryson Test. Cresseid 478 in Poems (1981) 126 I counsall the mak vertew of ane neid.
1592 R. Greene Pandosto (new ed.) sig. Biijv She was faine to make a vertue of her neede.
1659 J. Wilson Cheerful Ayres or Ballads 28 Then will I make a vertue of my needing.
1818 C. Lamb Wks. I. 26 But, unable to proceed, Made a virtue out of need.
1920 Amer. Architect 8 Dec. 729/2 The War Museum Monument, the Music Player's War Memorial, both seek to impose a foreign utility as the first consideration, making a virtue of a need.
c. to make a virtue of: to treat or represent (something, esp. a fault, obligation, or unavoidable circumstance) as commendable or advantageous; to gain credit by; to derive benefit from.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > good repute > gain credit by [verb (transitive)]
to make a virtue ofa1592
a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. E2 Leaue Ned, and make a vertue of this fault.
1612 G. Chapman Widdowes Teares v. sig. L2 They that owe money shall pay it at their best leisure: And the rest shall make a vertue of imprisonment.
1685 J. Tutchin Poems ii. 82 Vilely she makes a Virtue of Disdain, And loaths the very name of Country Swain.
1723 J. Hildebrand Fatal Constancy i. 12 Enough to weary the most lavish Hand, And even make a Virtue of Profuseness.
1781 London Mag. May 209/1 You always confound indiscretion with frankness, and make a virtue of what is truly a fault.
1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xiii. 113 ‘Maybe 'twould be gutther, sir,’ said Mat, who saw Furlong was near the mark, and he thought he might as well make a virtue of telling him.
1899 Academy 21 Oct. 453/1 He does not bother his head about politics; he even makes a virtue of his abstention.
1939 Fortune Oct. 158/3 Making a virtue of its nonownership of theatres, they called the new Universal ‘an exhibitor's company’.
1968 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 114 794/1 So far from deploring this impediment to strict objectivity, the author believes in making a virtue of it.
2004 New Yorker 13 Sept. 40/3 Bush..boasts tirelessly of his resolve and steadfastness, making a virtue of rigidity.
P3. Proverb. virtue is its (also †her) own reward and variants.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. xii. sig. Oo7 Your vertue selfe her owne reward shall breed.
1603 J. Davies Microcosmos sig. Mm3 Sacred vertue is her owne reward, And Crowns her selfe, in spight of Fortunes Nayes.
1642 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (new ed.) 87 That vertue is her owne reward, is but a cold principle.
1643 J. Hutchinson Discov. Trecherous Attempts Cavaliers sig. A3 Vertue is its owne reward.
1692 M. Prior Ode Imitation Horace viii. 7 Virtue is her own Reward, With solid Beams and Native Glory bright.
1757 J. Home Douglas iii. i. 35 Amen! and virtue is it's own reward!
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker II. 58 I shall be content with the reflection, That virtue is its own reward.
1835 Reformers' Gaz. 2 May 324 But as virtue has its own reward, so political dishonesty has its own peculiar antidote.
1850 F. E. Smedley Frank Fairlegh xxxviii. 314 Supposing this iniquitous engagement to have been broken off by your exertions, is Virtue to be its own reward?
1920 F. M. Howard Happy Rascals (1922) 18 ‘Virtue's its own reward’, by which I means that we've beat you chaps once more, and that's all the satisfaction we wants.
1978 Observer 10 Dec. 24 It may be fine philosophy to claim that virtue is its own reward, but it is somewhat cold comfort for the virtuous.
1992 Utne Reader Nov. 4/3 If virtue were its own reward, we would all be as rich as the pashas of the Republican Party.
P4. in virtue: with regards to essential qualities; in essence. Frequently in in virtue and effect. Cf. virtually adv. 1a. Now rare. [Originally after French en vertu potentially, in essence (c1377; c1369 in sense ‘efficaciously’).]
ΚΠ
1630 E. Cary tr. J. D. Du Perron Reply to Answeare of King iv. iii. 385 Him that for being the head of the Apostleship, containes in vertue [Fr. en vertu] all the Apostolicke Bodie.
a1633 G. Herbert Priest to Temple (1652) xxi. 86 A most plain and easie framing the question, even containing in vertue the answer also.
1654 Bp. J. Taylor Real Presence 21 They say he [sc. Christ] is taken by the mouth, and that the spiritual and the virtual taking him in virtue or effect is not sufficient.
a1768 T. Secker Lect. Catech. (1777) xxxvi. 304 A Security for a Sum of Money, is called the Sum itself; and is so in Virtue and Effect.
1822 Brit. Rev. Mar. 187 The transaction of 1688 was in virtue and effect a restoration.
1844 W. E. Gladstone in Foreign & Q. Rev. 301 The majority have in virtue and effect abdicated.
1941 L. Thorndike Hist. Magic & Exper. Sci. IV. xlv. 482 Aristotle grants that God contains all things in virtue as in cause.
P5. mickledom is no virtue: see mickledom n.
P6. of easy virtue: possessing low moral standards or little integrity; esp. (usually of a woman) sexually promiscuous, engaging in prostitution. Cf. sense 2c.lady of easy virtue, woman of easy virtue: see the first element. [Compare French de moyenne vertu (1732), de petite vertu (1909), both with reference to women or girls. No exact formal parallel of the English phrase is attested in French.]
ΚΠ
1763 E. Thompson Temple of Venus i. 10 Dames of easy Virtue stray to please, The foulest passions 'mongst the fairest Trees.
1774 Monthly Rev. June 457 A witty Lady once sarcastically styled him, ‘a Gentleman of easy virtue’.
1817 T. S. Raffles Hist. Java vii. 342 The common dancing girls of the country..are called rông'geng, and are generally of easy virtue.
1845 J. R. McCulloch Treat. Taxation i. iv. 126 The tax will then fall with its full weight upon men of integrity, while the millionaire of ‘easy virtue’ may well-nigh escape it altogether.
1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 78/1 Moth, a female of easy virtue.
1970 N.Y. Mag. 14 Dec. 86/3 Bucatini alla puttanesca (named for the sisterhood of easy virtue).
2006 A. O'Neill London: after Fashion iv. 106 Hogarth's depiction of the downfall of a man of easy virtue in The Rake's Progress.
P7.
All the Virtues n. British Politics (chiefly ironic) (now rare) any of various bodies of members in the House of Commons; spec. the members of William Gladstone's administration during his ministries of 1868–74 and 1880–5. [After All the Talents, applied to the Grenville Ministry of 1806–7 (see talent n. 6d).]
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > [noun] > specific principles or policies > supporters of
reformist1641
reformer1648
engager1650
All the Virtues1816
Manchester school1846
fair trader1881
Manchestrist1882
Little Englander1889
Manchesterian1897
tariff-reformer1903
Little Englander Liberal1909
Poplarist1925
marketeer1962
Eurosceptic1978
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > a or the government > [noun] > a particular government or the administration
governmenta1544
administration1649
ministry1710
All the Virtues1869
1816 G. Bingham Let. 1 Jan. in Cornhill Mag. (1900) Jan. 34 Bonaparte..has heard that ‘All the Virtues’, with Sir Francis Burdett at their head, were to advocate his cause and recall.
1869 Owl 3 Mar. 4/1 This Administration will live in history not as ‘All the Talents’, but as ‘All the Virtues’.
1870 Church Herald 5 Jan. 178/1 This same administration of ‘All the Virtues’ has with rare tact created a widespread feeling of indignation and soreness in our most valuable colonies.
1873 Judy 15 Oct. 259/2 The Gladstone Cabinet has been nicknamed the ‘Ministry of all the Virtues’.
1883 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 539/1 Ministerial doings in this country under the Administration of All the Virtues.
1917 G. W. E. Russell Politics & Personalities i. iii. 33 A Ministry of All the Talents and All the Virtues, such as that under which we just now have the happiness to live.

Compounds

C1. Objective, instrumental, similative, etc., as virtue-based, virtue-binding, virtue-wise, adjectives.
ΚΠ
1788 European Mag. Jan. 51/1 I might have join'd the Patriot band, And, virtue-bound, walk'd hand in hand.
1800 S. T. Coleridge tr. F. Schiller Piccolomini iv. vii. 174 I Am no tongue-hero, no fine virtue-prattler.
1816 L. Hunt Story of Rimini iii. 6 The holy cheat, the virtue-binding sin.
1838 S. Bellamy Betrayal 49 What deeds, radiant of truth, And wisdom's self revealings, virtue-wise, Thy darkness comprehending not, thy doom..did vindicate.
1911 Fortn. Rev. 2 Oct. 680 The virtue-producing myth.
1993 R. Foley Working without Net i. 46 A virtue-based approach to questions of rational belief.
2011 N.Y. Mag. 31 Oct. 86/1 A bonefield of virtue-white Apple products.
C2.
virtue ethics n. Philosophy any of various theories of ethics in which morality is assessed primarily by reference to the virtues and character of the individual.Often contrasted with ethical systems based on duties, rules, or consequences.
ΚΠ
1942 Church Q. Rev. July 168 It also provides the means of emancipating virtue-ethics from the taint of self-seeking.
1984 Amer. Philos. Q. 21 228/2 For virtue ethics, the primary object of moral evaluation is not the act or its consequences, but rather the agent.
2011 M. D. White Kantian Ethics & Econ. Introd. 7 It is the person who is virtuous, and an act is morally good if it is what a virtuous person would do in similar circumstances. As such, virtue ethics is often contrasted with ethical systems which focus on acts, whether in regards to their intrinsic properties (such as Kant does) or their outcomes (such as utilitarians do).
virtue-proof adj. now rare that is impervious to sin or some other harm as a result of being virtuous.
ΚΠ
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 384 No vaile Shee needed, Vertue-proof, no thought infirme Alterd her cheek. View more context for this quotation
1691 Satyr against French 21 And she must be but little Vertue-proof, Who can be taken with such fulsom Stuff.
1796 G. D. Harley Poems 259 [Armour] Which twice ten thousand arrows shall assail, But which his valour, virtue-proof, may bear!
1886 Owl (Birmingham) 27 Aug. 12/1 A man who has been virtue-proof against her sensuous wiles.
1920 W. Senior Lines in Pleasant Places ix. 106 The veterans, poising themselves steelproof in the current, yet virtueproof against temptation.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† virtuev.

Forms: Middle English vertue.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: virtue n.
Etymology: < virtue n.
Obsolete. rare.
transitive (reflexive). To exert oneself to do something. Cf. virtue n. 5a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself [verb (reflexive)]
afforcec1300
enforcec1386
virtuea1393
endeavourc1400
naitc1400
envirtue1477
exploit1490
to put it forthc1500
constrainc1510
efforce1512
lay1535
evirtuate1642
to exert oneself1736
hump1835
spread1843
to put about1983
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 2766 For schrifte stant of no value To him that wol him noght vertue To leve of vice the folie.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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