virtue
/vurtyoo/ noun 1 behaviour showing high moral standards. 2 a morally good or desirable quality. 3 a good or useful quality of a thing. 4 archaic virginity or chastity. PHRASES by virtue of because or as a result of. ORIGIN Latin virtus valour, merit, moral perfection, from vir man.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
|