vertu
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Italian virtù, †vertù (“moral worth, virtue (13th century); determination, perseverance, military valour (14th century); study of the liberal or fine arts; appreciation of, taste for, or expertise in the fine arts; objets d'art collectively (16th century)”); or from French vertu (“virtue”), ultimately from Latin virtūt-, virtus (“virtue”). Doublet of virtue; compare also virtuoso.
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /vəˈtuː/
- (General American) IPA(key): /vɚˈtu/
Noun
editvertu (uncountable)
- (art, now historical) The fine arts as a subject of study or expertise; understanding of arts and antiquities. [from 18th c.]
- 1750, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling[1], volume III, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Millar, →OCLC, pages 238–239:
- To give them their Due, they ſoar a Step higher than their Predeceſſors, and may be called Men of Wiſdom and Vertù (take heed you do not read Virtue).
- 1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt, published 2008, page 233:
- He engaged a certain Abbé of distinguished taste in virtù to attend them as their Ciceroné, and explain the antiquities brought from Herculaneum and Pompeia […] .
- (art, now historical) Objets d'art collectively. [from 18th c.]
- 1851, Herman Melville, “Moby-Dick or The White Whale”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[3], Boston: The St. Botolph Society, published 1922, →OCLC, page 423:
- Now, when with royal Tranquo I visited this wondrous whale, and saw the skull an altar, and the artificial smoke ascending from where the real jet had issued, I marvelled that the king should regard a chapel as an object of vertù.
- 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin[4], London: John Cassell, →OCLC, page 178:
- The more drawers and closets there were, the more hiding-holes could Charlotte make for the accommodation of old rags, hair-combs, old shoes, ribbons, cast-off artificial flowers, and other articles of vertù, wherein her soul delighted.
- Especially with reference to the writings of Machiavelli (1469–1527): the requisite qualities for political or military success; vitality, determination; power. [from 19th c.]
- 1976, Niccolò Machiavelli; James B. Atkinson, transl., The Prince [The Library of Liberal Arts; LLA-172], Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill Company, ISBN 978-0-672-51542-2; reprinted as Indianapolis, Ind.: Hackett Publishing Company, 2008, ISBN 978-0-87220-920-6, pages 69–70:
- All these connotations, even the positive and moral ones, are within the range of significations Machiavelli wants us to hear in “virtù.” For him the word suggests a kind of flexibility that can initiate effective, efficient, and energetic action based on a courageous assertion of the will and an ability to execute the products of one's own calculations. Such calculations are a significant adjunct to his ideas about virtù: they outline what might be called an internal or mental virtù.
- 1996, Harvey C[laflin] Mansfield[, Jr.], Machiavelli's Virtue, Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, pages 6–7:
- He alternately shocks his readers and provides relief from the very shocks he administers: Agathocles has virtù but cannot be said to have virtù. It is not enough to say that he uses the word in several “senses”; he uses it in two contradictory senses as to whether it includes or excludes evil deeds.
- 2000, Jack Donnelly, Realism and International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 175:
- To oversimplify, Machiavelli uses virtù to refer both to “Christian” moral virtues, the conventional universalistic values embodied in the Golden Rule, and to a set of more particularistic classical virtues centered on honor. Together they comprise Machiavelli's account of the most noble and distinctive human excellences, achievements, and aspirations.
- 1976, Niccolò Machiavelli; James B. Atkinson, transl., The Prince [The Library of Liberal Arts; LLA-172], Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill Company, ISBN 978-0-672-51542-2; reprinted as Indianapolis, Ind.: Hackett Publishing Company, 2008, ISBN 978-0-87220-920-6, pages 69–70:
- Moral worth; virtue, virtuousness. [from 20th c.]
Related terms
editTranslations
edit
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French
editEtymology
editInherited from Middle French vertu, from Old French vertu, from Latin virtūtem.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editvertu f (plural vertus)
- virtue
- 2004 October 1, “Huit-queues-et-demie [Eight-and-a-Half-Tails]”, in Guerriers de Kamigawa [Warriors of Kamigawa], Wizards of the Coast:
- « La vertu est une lumière intérieure qui peut toujours sauver une âme. »
- “Virtue is an inner light that can save a soul.”
Derived terms
edit- en vertu de
- évertuer
- femme de petite vertu
- on ne peut pas être contre la vertu
- vertu cardinale
- vertueux
Related terms
editFurther reading
edit- “vertu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
German
editPronunciation
editVerb
editvertu
Middle English
editAlternative forms
edit- verteu, vertew, vertiwe, vertue, vertuu, vertuwe, vertwe, virtew, virtu, virtue, wertue, vartu, wartu
Etymology
editBorrowed from Old French and Anglo-Norman vertu, from Latin virtūtem, accusative of virtūs.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editvertu (plural vertues)
- An ability, specialty, or feature:
- Medical or pharmaceutical ability (either generally or specifically)
- A mechanism that causes a bodily function to work.
- Power, competence, ability; ability to effect behaviour or action:
- c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)[5], published c. 1410, Apocalips 1:16, page 117v, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:
- ⁊ he hadde in his riȝthond ſeuene ſterris .· ⁊ a ſwerd ſcharp on euer eþir ſide wente out of his mouþ / ⁊ his face .· as þe ſunne ſchyneþ in his vertu.
- And he had in his right hand seven stars, a sharp sword came out both sides of his mouth, and his face [was] like the sun shining with its power.
- Divine power or beneficence (sometimes inherent in an object)
- 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Knẏghtes Tale”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published [c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 30, recto, lines 2249-2250:
- Youre vertu is ſo greet / in heuene aboue / That if yow liſt / I shal wel haue my loue […]
- Your power is so great in the heavens above / That if you want, I'm going to have my love […]
- c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)[6], published c. 1410, Petre ·i· 4:14, page 112v, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:
- if ȝe ben diſpiſid foꝛ þe name of criſt .· ȝe ſchulen be bleſſid / foꝛ þat þat is of þe onour ⁊ of þe gloꝛie ⁊ of þe vertu of god · ⁊ þe ſpirit þat is his .· ſchal reſte on ȝou
- If you are despised because of the name of Christ, you will be blessed, because of that which is the honour, glory, and power of God, and his spirit will rest on you.
- Political or legislative power or jurisdiction.
- Astrological or occult power or influence.
- Importance or desirability; the property of having value.
- The means or method that something is done with or through.
- (rare) The property of causing power, effects or results.
- Fortitude, strength, or might; power innate to a living being:
- Virtue (moral goodness or capability):
- Glory, honourableness, or knightliness; that expected by chivalry.
- A particular virtue believed to be morally beneficial or good.
- A moral directive or instruction or the body of them; morals.
- One of several ranks of angels (being above "powers" and below "dominions").
- (by extension) A military troop or band; a group of combatants.
- (rare) A title or appellation granted or bestowed upon a divinity.
Related terms
editDescendants
editReferences
edit- “vertū, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-09.
Middle French
editEtymology
editFrom Old French vertu.
Noun
editvertu f (plural vertus)
- virtue (goodness, moralness)
Descendants
edit- French: vertu
Old French
editEtymology
editFrom Latin virtūs, virtūtem.
Noun
editvertu oblique singular, f (oblique plural vertus, nominative singular vertu, nominative plural vertus)
Synonyms
editDescendants
edit- English terms borrowed from Italian
- English terms derived from Italian
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- en:Art
- English terms with historical senses
- English terms with quotations
- French terms inherited from Middle French
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms inherited from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- French terms with quotations
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German non-lemma forms
- German verb forms
- German colloquialisms
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms borrowed from Anglo-Norman
- Middle English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- Middle English terms derived from Latin
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English terms with quotations
- Middle English terms with rare senses
- enm:Astrology
- enm:Directives
- enm:Ethics
- enm:Health
- enm:Law
- enm:Medicine
- enm:Military
- enm:Mind
- enm:Occult
- enm:Physiology
- enm:Religion
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French nouns
- Middle French feminine nouns
- Middle French countable nouns
- Old French terms inherited from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French feminine nouns