• n. 美德；優(yōu)點(diǎn)；貞操；功效
• n. (Virtue)人名；(英)弗丘

來自拉丁語vir,男人，詞源同virile,引申詞義男人應(yīng)有的品行和美德，具體為7種基本品行：justice,prudence,temperance,fortitude,hope,faith,charity,后來詞義通用化也用來指女人的美德，貞潔等。

virtue

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].

1. Mr Olaechea has British residency by virtue of his marriage.

奧拉伊奇先生通過結(jié)婚而取得在英國的永久居留權(quán)。

來自柯林斯例句

2. She could have established her own innocence and virtue easily enough.

她本可以輕易地證實(shí)自己純真善良的品性。

來自柯林斯例句

3. Its other great virtue, of course, is its hard-wearing quality.

它的另一個突出優(yōu)點(diǎn)當(dāng)然就是經(jīng)久耐用。

來自柯林斯例句

4. She says the programme portrayed her as a "lady of easy virtue".

她說這個節(jié)目把她刻畫成了一個“水性楊花的女人”。

來自柯林斯例句

5. The article stuck in my mind by virtue of one detail.

由于一個細(xì)節(jié)，這篇文章在我腦海里印象深刻。

來自柯林斯例句