The Collaborative International Dictionary
Virtue \Vir"tue\ (?; 135), n. [OE. vertu, F. vertu, L. virtus strength, courage, excellence, virtue, fr. vir a man. See Virile, and cf. Virtu.]
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Manly strength or courage; bravery; daring; spirit; valor. [Obs.]
--Shak.Built too strong For force or virtue ever to expugn.
--Chapman. -
Active quality or power; capacity or power adequate to the production of a given effect; energy; strength; potency; efficacy; as, the virtue of a medicine.
Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about.
--Mark v. 30.A man was driven to depend for his security against misunderstanding, upon the pure virtue of his syntax.
--De Quincey.The virtue of his midnight agony.
--Keble. -
Energy or influence operating without contact of the material or sensible substance.
She moves the body which she doth possess, Yet no part toucheth, but by virtue's touch.
--Sir. J. Davies. -
Excellence; value; merit; meritoriousness; worth.
I made virtue of necessity.
--Chaucer.In the Greek poets, . . . the economy of poems is better observed than in Terence, who thought the sole grace and virtue of their fable the sticking in of sentences.
--B. Jonson. -
Specifically, moral excellence; integrity of character; purity of soul; performance of duty.
Virtue only makes our bliss below.
--Pope.If there's Power above us, And that there is all nature cries aloud Through all her works, he must delight in virtue.
--Addison. A particular moral excellence; as, the virtue of temperance, of charity, etc. ``The very virtue of compassion.''
--Shak. ``Remember all his virtues.''
--Addison.-
Specifically: Chastity; purity; especially, the chastity of women; virginity.
H. I believe the girl has virtue. M. And if she has, I should be the last man in the world to attempt to corrupt it.
--Goldsmith. -
pl. One of the orders of the celestial hierarchy.
Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers.
--Milton.Cardinal virtues. See under Cardinal, a.
In virtue of, or By virtue of, through the force of; by authority of. ``He used to travel through Greece by virtue of this fable, which procured him reception in all the towns.''
--Addison. ``This they shall attain, partly in virtue of the promise made by God, and partly in virtue of piety.''
--Atterbury.Theological virtues, the three virtues, faith, hope, and charity. See
--1 Cor. xiii. 13.
Wiktionary
prep. (context idiomatic English) by virtue of
Usage examples of "in virtue of".
But though Christ is the founder of the heavenly and eternal city, yet it did not believe Him to be God because it was founded by Him, but rather it is founded by Him, in virtue of its belief.
The newly discovered Gaius distinctly states that it was in virtue of a law - Nec unquam dubitatum est, quin id legis vicem obtineat, cum ipse imperator per legem imperium accipiat.
But Augustus, then Octavius, was censor, and in virtue of that office, even according to the constitution of the free republic, could reform the senate, expel unworthy members, name the Princeps Senatus, &c.
She looked up at me, her wrists still in the wrist stocks, these stocks keeping her, in virtue of the slots and fastenings, on the bench.
Afterwards, they are usually conducted home by one of the young men, often he whose cords have bound them, and who may be interested in their acquisition, on his leash, usually to the home of their mother's owner, usually their father, to whom, in virtue of such a ceremony, they now legally count as slave, who will see to their disposition, or sale.
Thus the word occurs in the belief as a symbol, in virtue of its meaning, whereas the noise enters into both the belief and its objective.
When at last he raised his eyes, he beheld not that venerable form, but the priestess Melissa, who in virtue of the ring now appeared in her true person.
Shortly thereafter we were apprehended by a mixed group of unlikely allies, representatives of Sleen, Yellow Knives and Kaiila, who in virtue of the Memory, as it is called, had joined forces to attack the wagon train and soldiers.
Thus, even though she was very beautiful, she would probably not, in virtue of her inexperience, even be considered for a private-booth showing for several months or a year.
NO particular master is likely to have any special concern for her, nor can she, as such a slave, amelorate or improve her condition, or even secure, to some extent, her possibilities of servival, by becoming, in virtue of deep, sweet, delicate, intamate and exquisite relationships, so fulfilling to both the woman and the man, a prized possession of her owner, a treasure to her master.
As she had come into the keeping of Appanius in virtue of the couching laws, she had had only one sale, that to me for a few copper tarsks.
I to not think that they cared much for their new sister in bondage, the former Lady Rowena of Lydius, who perhaps in some subtle way, perhaps in virtue of her former background, held herself superior to them, but, too, I don not think they cared to have her thrown alive, screaming, to sleen.
The arrangement, tus, is not only such that teh girl finds herself, when the straps are on her, held in perfect custody, but this custody, in virtue of the nature of the studs and eyelets, may be easily imposed or removed, a convenience to the handler.
Too, in virtue of this arrangement, one need not entrust coins to debtor sluts, slaves, and such.
I bent down and kissed her on the side, on one of the long welts raised by the whip stroke, one of the blows in virtue of which she was assessed.