English
virtue
Virtue comes from Latin virtus ‘manliness, bravery, worth, moral excellence’, from vir ‘man’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to hunt’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-1‘to hunt’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wiHrós2‘man’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiros2‘a man’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvir3‘man’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvirtus3‘manliness, bravery, worth, moral excellence’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400vertu3
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vertu3‘Medical or pharmaceutical ability’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667virtue3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin vir
- 3 Wiktionary, English virtue
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book X: “Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers; / For in possession…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós‘to hunt’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wiHrósWiktionary, Latin vir‘man’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wirosWiktionary, Latin vir‘a man’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvirWiktionary, English virtue‘man’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvirtusWiktionary, English virtue‘manliness, bravery, worth, moral excellence’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400vertuWiktionary, English virtue
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vertuWiktionary, English virtue‘Medical or pharmaceutical ability’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667virtueWiktionary, English virtue. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book X: “Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers; / For in possession…”
The story
In this sense, displaced Old English cræft, whence Modern English craft.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to hunt’
previous, obvious, violent, violation, inevitable, voyage, convey, vengeance, violate, envoy, trivial, avenge, trivia, deviation, vis, venison, deviant, vindication, ochre, viaduct, vim, violator, inviolable, trivium, obviate, 54 more
through Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós ‘man’
through Latin vir ‘man’
Today it means
noun The idea of all that is good or excellent (in every sense of those terms) in a human being, collectively instantiated by a varying number of human traits known as "the virtues", the enumeration of which vary by the many virtue systems which have developed within different cultures, religions, and historical periods.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “virtue”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós, Latin vir. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- / virtue