virtue: [13] Latin virtūs ‘bravery, strength, capacity, skill, merit’ was derived from vir ‘man’ (source also of English virago ‘manlike woman’ [14] and virile [15]), and so etymologically it denoted ‘manliness’. It passed into English via Old French vertu. Derivatives include virtual [14] which, preserving another semantic aspect of its source, originally meant ‘having power, in effect’, but by the 17th century had evolved into its modern sense ‘so in effect or in essence’; and virtuoso [17], which was borrowed from Italian and goes back to the ancestral sense ‘skill’. => virago, virile, virtual, virtuoso
virtue (n.)
c. 1200, vertu, "moral life and conduct; a particular moral excellence," from Anglo-French and Old French vertu "force, strength, vigor; moral strength; qualities, abilities" (10c. in Old French), from Latin virtutem (nominative virtus) "moral strength, high character, goodness; manliness; valor, bravery, courage (in war); excellence, worth," from vir "man" (see virile).
For my part I honour with the name of virtue the habit of acting in a way troublesome to oneself and useful to others. [Stendhal "de l'Amour," 1822]
Especially (in women) "chastity, sexual purity" from 1590s. Phrase by virtue of (early 13c.) preserves alternative Middle English sense of "efficacy." Wyclif Bible has virtue where KJV uses power. The seven cardinal virtues (early 14c.) were divided into the natural (justice, prudence, temperance, fortitude) and the theological (hope, faith, charity). To make a virtue of a necessity (late 14c.) translates Latin facere de necessitate virtutem [Jerome].
双语例句
1. Mr Olaechea has British residency by virtue of his marriage.
奥拉伊奇先生通过结婚而取得在英国的永久居留权。
来自柯林斯例句
2. She could have established her own innocence and virtue easily enough.
她本可以轻易地证实自己纯真善良的品性。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Its other great virtue, of course, is its hard-wearing quality.
它的另一个突出优点当然就是经久耐用。
来自柯林斯例句
4. She says the programme portrayed her as a "lady of easy virtue".
她说这个节目把她刻画成了一个“水性杨花的女人”。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The article stuck in my mind by virtue of one detail.
