Noun

(obsolete) The inherent power of a god, or other supernatural being.

The inherent power or efficacy of something (now only in phrases).

* 2011 , "The autumn of the patriarchs", The Economist , 17 Feb 2011:

many Egyptians still worry that the Brotherhood, by virtue of discipline and experience, would hold an unfair advantage if elections were held too soon.

(uncountable) Accordance with moral principles; conformity of behaviour or thought with the strictures of morality; good moral conduct.

* 1749 , Henry Fielding, Tom Jones , XV.1:

There are a set of religious, or rather moral, writers, who teach that virtue is the certain road to happiness, and vice to misery, in this world.

A particular manifestation of moral excellence in a person; an admirable quality.

* 1766 , Laurence Sterne, Sermon XLIV:

Some men are modest, and seem to take pains to hide their virtues ; and, from a natural distance and reserve in their tempers, scarce suffer their good qualities to be known [...].

Specifically, each of several qualities held to be particularly important, including the four cardinal virtues, the three theological virtues, or the seven virtues opposed to the seven deadly sins.

* 1813 , John Fleetwood, The Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ :

The divine virtues of truth and equity are the only bands of friendship, the only supports of society.

An inherently advantageous or excellent quality of something or someone; a favourable point, an advantage.

* 1719 , :

There were divers other plants, which I had no notion of or understanding about, that might, perhaps, have virtues of their own, which I could not find out.

* 2011 , The Guardian , Letter, 14 Mar 2011

One virtue of the present coalition government's attack on access to education could be to reopen the questions raised so pertinently by Robinson in the 1960s [...].

A creature embodying divine power, specifically one of the orders of heavenly beings, traditionally ranked above angels and below archangels.

* 1667 , John Milton, Paradise Lost , Book X:

Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues , Powers; / For in possession such, not only of right, / I call ye, and declare ye now [...].

(uncountable) Specifically, moral conduct in sexual behaviour, especially of women; chastity.

* 1813 , Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice :

though she did not suppose Lydia to be deliberately engaging in an elopement without the intention of marriage, she had no difficulty in believing that neither her virtue nor her understanding would preserve her from falling an easy prey.

Noun

(en noun)

Something with which a person or thing is endowed.

* 1791 , , Letter to Thomas Jefferson on racism and slavery (19 August 1791):

I suppose it is a truth too well attested to you, to need a proof here, that we are a race of beings, who have long labored under the abuse and censure of the world; that we have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt; and that we have long been considered rather as brutish than human, and scarcely capable of mental endowments .

* 1958 , , Speech to the United Parents Association:

We must not, in opening our schools to everyone, confuse the idea that all should have equal chance with the notion that all have equal endowments .

* 1980 , Ray Broadus Browne, Rituals and ceremonies in popular culture , page 230:

the woman with larger-than-usual breasts will be initially perceived only as a sex object if she doesn't take steps to disguise her endowment .

* 1985 , , Interview on The Open Mind (11 May 1985):

What is … important is that we — number one: Learn to live with each other. Number two: try to bring out the best in each other. The best from the best, and the best from those who, perhaps, might not have the same endowment .

* 2006 , Natalie R. Collins, Wives and Sisters , page 54:

Tami also had huge breasts, and every teenage boy wanted to touch them. Tami, knowing she was not beautiful, used her endowment to great advantage.

Property or funds invested for the support and benefit of a person or not-for-profit institution.

* 1884 , , in chapter 8 of his novella Flatland :

Not content with the natural neglect into which Sight Recognition was falling, they began boldly to demand the legal prohibition of all "monopolizing and aristocratic Arts" and the consequent abolition of all endowments for the studies of Sight Recognition, Mathematics, and Feeling.

* 1932 , , after assuming the presidency of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

I seem to see a great university, great in endowment , in land, in buildings, in equipment, but greater still, second to none, in its practical idealism, and its social usefulness.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}