moral goodness and the wish to do what is right
The firefighter showed great virtue when he ran back into the burning house to rescue a kitten.
Teaching children about honesty and kindness helps them develop virtue from an early age.
✦ Middle English, from Old French vertu, from Latin virtus meaning ‘manliness, excellence, moral strength’.
a useful or good quality that something has
One big virtue of this tablet is its long-lasting battery.
Patience is a useful virtue when you are learning a new language.
the quality of being sexually pure, traditionally applied to a woman
In the old novel, the heroine’s virtue is constantly threatened by the villain.
Knights were expected to protect a lady’s virtue at all costs.
authority, power, or reason that allows something to happen, mainly used in the phrase ‘by virtue of’ meaning ‘because of’
By virtue of his experience, he was chosen to lead the expedition.
The new law goes into effect by virtue of the governor’s signature.
