Virtuous

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈvɜːt͡ʃʊəs/

Definitions

1. Characterized by moral excellence and righteousness or adherence to ethical standards that guide one's actions and choices
2. Embodying ethical behavior that reflects high moral values and principles while promoting a sense of integrity
3. Exhibiting qualities of moral goodness and ethical conduct in behavior and decisions

Etymology: Latin "virtus" originally meant manliness or courage, a quality tied to the Roman man (its root "vir" means "man"). Over time it broadened to mean excellence of any kind and then moral goodness, and "virtuous" carries that moral sense forward: a virtuous person acts on principle. The adjective reached English through Middle English "vertuous," borrowed from Anglo-Norman "vertuous" and "vertous," which trace back to Late Latin "virtuosus," meaning full of virtue. The word has a curious twin in "virtuoso." Both descend from the same Late Latin source, but "virtuoso" entered English from Italian, where it came to describe a person skilled in the arts, and it kept that sense of mastery rather than moral character. Linguists call words like this doublets: two forms of one root that took different routes into the language and drifted apart in meaning.

Synonyms: moral, righteous, upright

Antonyms: immoral, wicked