virtuous

English

Alternative forms

• vertuous (obsolete)
• vertuus (obsolete)
• virtuose (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English vertuous, borrowed from Anglo-Norman vertuous, vertous, ultimately from Late Latin virtuōsus, from Latin virtūs. Doublet of virtuoso.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜːt͡ʃʊəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvɝt͡ʃuəs/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: vir‧tu‧ous

Adjective

virtuous (comparative more virtuous, superlative most virtuous)

1. Full of virtue; having excellent moral character.

   Synonyms: good, righteous, (obsolete) virtual

   Successful communities need strong, selfless leaders and a virtuous people.

   • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171:

     Her virtuous, pale-blue, saucerlike eyes flooded with leviathan tears on unexpected occasions and made Yossarian mad.

Derived terms

• virtuous circle, virtuous cycle, virtuous spiral
• virtuous couch
• virtuousness
• pseudovirtuous

Related terms

• virtual
• virtue
• virtuosity

Translations

full of virtue; having excellent moral character

Arabic: فَاضِل (fāḍil) Armenian: առաքինի (hy) (aṙakʻini) Belarusian: дабрадзе́йны (dabradzjéjny), цно́тлівы (cnótlivy), цно́тны (cnótny) Bengali: নেক (bn) (nek), ফাজেল (fazel) Bulgarian: доброде́телен (bg) (dobrodételen), целомъ́дрен (bg) (celomǎ́dren) Catalan: virtuós (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 有道德的 (yǒu dàodé de), 有德行的 (yǒu déxíng de), 貞 / 贞 (zh) (zhēn) Czech: ctnostný Danish: dydig Dutch: deugdzaam (nl) Esperanto: virta (eo) Finnish: hyveellinen French: vertueux (fr) Galician: virtuoso Georgian: სათნო (satno), უმანკო (umanḳo), უმწიკვლო (umc̣iḳvlo) German: züchtig (de), tugendhaft (de), tugendsam (de) Greek: ηθικός (el) (ithikós), ενάρετος (el) (enáretos) Ancient: ἐνάρετος (enáretos) Ido: vertuoza (io) Italian: virtuoso (it) Japanese: 徳の高い (toku no takai) Latin: probus Latvian: tikumīgs, šķīsts Macedonian: до́блестен (dóblesten), доброде́телен (dobrodételen) Maori: tapatahi, ngākaupai Navajo: yáʼátʼéehii Norwegian: Bokmål: dydig Occitan: virtuós Old High German: chiusce Plautdietsch: sitlich Polish: cnotliwy (pl) Portuguese: virtuoso (pt), nobre (pt), digno (pt) Romanian: virtuos (ro) Russian: доброде́тельный (ru) (dobrodételʹnyj), целому́дренный (ru) (celomúdrennyj) Sanskrit: गुणज्ञ (sa) (guṇajña) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: вр̏лӣ Roman: vȑlī (sh) Slovak: cnostný Slovene: čednosten Spanish: virtuoso (es) Swedish: dygdig (sv), dygdesam (sv) Turkish: erdemli (tr), faziletli (tr) Ukrainian: доброче́сний (dobročésnyj), цнотли́вий (uk) (cnotlývyj), чеснотли́вий (česnotlývyj)

Further reading

• “virtuous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “virtuous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Middle English

Adjective

virtuous

1. alternative form of vertuous