| 释义 |
virtuous, a.|ˈvɜːtjuːəs|
Forms: α. 4–5 vertuos, 4–6 -uose, 4–7 -uouse, 4–8 -uous (4 -ouous, -uuus, -ueous), 5 -uus, -uows(e, -ueux (Sc. wertuo(u)sse, -uwisse, -uus, 6 vertwus); 5 vertues (wert-), vertuys (Sc. -uyse, -uise), 5–6 -uis; 5 vertus (Sc. -use), wertuz (Sc. -us); 4 vertiuus, 5–6 Sc. verteous, 6 Sc. -ewous, -ewus, -eus, werteous. Also superl. 5 vertues, 6 vertuest, vertuost. β. 4 uirtuous, virtuus, 5 virtuose, 7– virtuous.
[a. AF. and OF. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuus, (also mod.F.) vertueux, etc., = Pr. vertuos, Cat. virtuos, Sp. and Pg. virtuoso, It. ver-, virtuoso, late L. virtuōsus, f. L. virtus virtue n. See -ous.]
I. Of persons, personal qualities or actions, etc.
†1.
a. Distinguished by manly qualities; full of manly courage; valiant, valorous. Obs.
13..K. Alis. 2408 (Laud MS.), Alisaunder and tholomeus, Mid her men þat weren so vertuous, Þat hij weren passed ostes two. Ibid. 3319 Ne seiȝ ich neuer so hardy kniȝth..So stronge on hors ne so vertuouse. c1330Arth. & Merl. 4310 For alle hem werreþ Galeus, Þe riche king so vertouous. c1450Merlin xxix. 595 The slaughter [was] grete on bothe sides. Neuertheles whan Merlin saugh the saisnes so vertuouse, he [etc.]. 1474Caxton Chesse iv. vi. 178 Ye shalle vnderstande that they ben stronge and vertuous in bataylle. c1489― Sonnes of Aymon xx. 451 ‘Brother’, sayd reynawde, ‘I praye you that ye shewe yourselfe vertuous & stronge agenste our enmyes’. 1606Chapman Gent. Vsher i. i, My Lord, I know too well your vertuous spirit; Take heede for God's loue if you rowse the bore You come not neere him. c1611― Iliad xiii. 148 With this all strengths and minds he mov'd; but young Deiphobus, Old Priam's son, amongst them all was chiefly virtuous. 1611Beaum. & Fl. King & No K. i, Must all men that are vertuous Think suddenly to match themselves with me.? I conquered him and bravely, did I not?
†b. Of an act: Evincing a manly spirit; brave, heroic, courageous. Obs. rare.
1560Whitehorne tr. Machiavell's Arte Warre 85 Thei had appointed rewardes to euery worthie acte: as he that faighting, saued the life of one of his Citezeins,..to him that had..slaine the enemie, and so euery vertuous act, was of the Consulles knowen and rewarded. 1653Cogan Diodorus Siculus v. ii. 174 The child,..catching them [sc. two Dragons] by the throat, strangled them both; for which his vertuous act, the Argives called him Hercules.
†c. Capable, able. Obs.—1
1483Caxton Cato e viij, It happeth oftymes that they to whome nature hath denyed..her forces or strengthes been better and more vertuous to gyue a good counceyl than the other.
2. a. Possessing or showing virtue in life and conduct; acting with moral rectitude or in conformity with moral laws; free from vice, immorality, or wickedness; good, just, righteous.
The prevailing sense. In some early quots. as a general term of commendation (cf. sense 3).
αc1340Hampole Prose Tr. 14 Þe mare þat a saule es..joynede to oure Lorde Godd, þe mare stabill it es and myghty,.. gude, peyseble, luffande, and mare vertuous. 1390Gower Conf. II. 78 Bot if a man of bothe two Be riche and vertuous also, Thanne is he wel the more worth. c1400Apoll. Loll. 91 Crist is more exellent & vertuosar þan oþer createris. a1475G. Ashby Active Policy 480 Looke that youre servauntes be of the best,..And eueriche in his degre vertuest. 1509Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 301 All the vertuous and deuoute persones to whome she was as a louynge syster. 1534Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 375 Diuerse other vertuose prestes men of good lernyng and reputation, shuld so testifie of her. 1563Homilies ii. Peril Idol. iii. Ss iij b, The vertuest and best learned..auncient fathers. 1567Paynell tr. Treas. Amadis of Gaule E ij b, I neuer saw a wiser, vertuouser or a more temperate prince. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋8 A man may be counted a vertuous man, though hee haue made many slips in his life. 1640Quarles Enchiridion xci, If a Prince expect vertuous Subjects, let his Subjects have a vertuous Prince. 1695Ld. Preston Boeth. iv. 172 The Reward of vertuous Men. 1701Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. Ep. Ded., Two Vertuous (or at least Innocent) Characters. 1706Stanhope Paraphr. III. 206 Approving ourselves vertuous in our Behaviour as well as orthodox in our Belief.
transf.1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 22098 Byholde ȝonder a Chartrehous, An ordur that is full vertuous. 1539–40Wriothesley Chron. (Camden) I. 109 The howse of Sion..which was the vertues [= most virtuous] howse of religion that was in England.
β1487Barbour's Bruce iv. 742 He had beyn fals and couatus; Bot his vit maid him virtuous. 1660N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. ii. (1682) 72 When that which is worse hath cunningly contriv'd the destruction of Virtuous persons. 1691Hartcliffe Virtues 397 It were impossible so long as Men..have a desire of their own Happiness, but they should be virtuous. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 7 Ecclesiasticus injoins Labour and Agriculture as a Duty of virtuous Men. 1777R. Watson Philip II (1839) 23 Thus did this monarch, who was not less virtuous than most of his cotemporary princes, deliberately resolve to add treachery to the perjury and falsehood into which he had been betrayed. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey v. xiii, I have been too weak to be virtuous: but I have been..tried most bitterly. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede xvii, Let your most faulty characters always be on the wrong side, and your virtuous ones on the right. 1881Jrnl. Inst. Bankers II. ix. 563 The virtuous debtor, whose insolvency was attributable to unavoidable losses and misfortune.
b. Of women. Freq. = chaste a.
In quot. c 1400 merely an epithet of commendation.
c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 526 They can not gesse That sche had doon so gret a wikkednesse, For they han seyen hir so vertuous. c1400Destr. Troy 2432 Venus the vertuus was verely the fairest. c1420Chron. Vilod. 1573 Þer nasse A wysor wommon..Ny vertuoser in levyng,..Þen was þis holy mayde. 1536Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 21 Soo hath his grace I thinke chosen the vertuost lady and the veriest gentlewoman that lyveth. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 157 Quene Margarit was werie wyse and werteous in hir husbandis tyme, bot sune efter his deid..scho became leichorous of hir body. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 136 Mistris Ford, the honest woman, the modest wife, the vertuous creature, that hath the iealious foole to her husband. 1611Bible Prov. xii. 4 A vertuous woman is a crowne to her husband. 1632High Commission Cases (Camden) 265 That she being a vertuous and a chaste lady, he called her whore often tymes. 1712Steele Spect. No. 286 ⁋1 In my Opinion, and in that of many of your virtuous Female Readers. 17..Suffolk Miracle ii. in Child Ballads V. 66/1 Her beauty was beyond compare, She was both virtuous and fair. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 77 ‘She will be virtuous’, said she, ‘and she will be happy: I knew calamity only in ceasing to be virtuous’. 1837Lytton E. Maltrav. ii. i, Madame D'Epinay's memoirs are of this character. She was not a virtuous woman—but she felt virtue and loved it. 1843A. Bethune Sc. Fireside Stor. 35 A virtuous woman, who has given her heart..to one whom [etc.].
†c. Used as a title of courtesy in addressing or referring to persons, esp. ladies of rank or emimence. Obs.
c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 896 Most illustre, ryght exellente & ryght vertuouse lady my lady Mary of Englande. 1588Kyd Househ. Philos. Ded., To the Worshipfvll and Vertvovs Gentleman Maister Thomas Reade, Esqvier, Health and all Happines. 1616Sir W. Mure Misc. Poems xvii. title, Epitaph of the wery excellent, vertuouse..trulie honoured Lady, the Lady Arnestoun. a1700Evelyn Diary 4 Feb. 1668, I saw the tragedy of ‘Horace’ (written by the virtuous Mrs. Phillips).
d. absol. (as pl.), chiefly with the.
1390Gower Conf. III. 226 He putte awey the vicious And tok to him the vertuous. c1425Wyntoun Cron. vii. 832 He chastit þa þat war wiciousse, And relewit al wertuousse. 1589Nashe Anat. Absurd. Wks. (Grosart) I. 35 The acts of the ventrous, and the praise of the vertuous. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. Ded., A second being..causing vs liue in the mindes of the vertuous, as it were, deified to the posteritie. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iv. xlvi. 373 As if the Vertuous, and their Vertues could be asunder. a1711Ken Urania Wks. 1721 IV. 498 They priz'd an humble modest Air, Sang more the Virtuous than the Fair. 1759Johnson Rasselas xxxvii[i,] But the angels of affliction spread their toils alike for the virtuous and the wicked. c1805Leyden in Life & Poems (1875) 195 The soft descending dews of sleep, That bathe the virtuous in serene repose. 1846A. Marsh Father Darcy II. viii. 137 The esteem of the noble and virtuous I would still retain.
e. Of the disposition or mind.
1584D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria 398 Of a good and vertuous disposition. 1598Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 189 Slen. If I be drunke, Ile be drunke with those that haue the feare of God, and not with drunken knaues. Euan. So got-udge me, that is a vertuous minde. 1602Ld. Cromwell iv. i. 20 He was my Maister, And each vertuous part, That liued in him, I tenderd with my hart. 1634Milton Comus 211 These thoughts may startle well, but not astound The vertuous mind. 1660N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. ii. (1682) 196 Many Vertuous Dispositions are fair Resemblances of the Divine Perfections. 1780A. Hamilton Let. to Miss Schuyler Wks. 1850 I. 187 A virtuous mind cannot long esteem a base one. 1784Cowper Tiroc. 436 The most disint'rested and virtuous minds. 1816Shelley Dæmon of World ii. 136 The bliss..Which..Dawns on the virtuous mind.
f. Sc. Diligent or industrious in work.
Perhaps due to Prov. xii. 4: see b. above, quot. 1611.
1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, I've heard my honest uncle aften say, That lads should a' for wives that's vertuous pray. a1825Scott in Jamieson Sc. Dict. Suppl. s.v., Her daughter was the most virtuous woman in the parish, for that week she had spun sax spyndles of yarn.
g. virtuous circle [after vicious circle s.v. vicious a. 9], a recurring cycle of events, the result of each one being to increase the beneficial effect of the next.
1953E. Simon Past Masters iii. 156 It will be a virtuous circle of publicity attracting helpers and, I trust, supplementary donations, and these begetting more publicity. 1958Brit. Jrnl. Sociol. IX. 163 The child's..range and expression of discriminating verbal responses is fostered by the social structure... A virtuous circle is set up which is continually reinforced. 1982Times 6 May 18/4 The rating reflects the company's virtuous circle—years of store building and modernization leading to productivity gains, which allow it to hold prices lower than its rivals but still make a better margin of 4·5 per cent.
3. a. Of acts, life, manners, etc.: Characterized by, of the nature of, virtue; according with, or conforming to, moral law or principles; morally good or justifiable.
Occas. in a weakened sense: ‘estimable, commendable, praiseworthy.’
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xix. 634 God to christofore gafe sic grace of vertuyse lare. Ibid. xxxvi. 424 Aganis þaim..Þat awantis þaim-selfe of uertuise lif. a1393Chaucer Gentilesse 17 Ther may no man..beqweythe his heyre his vertuous noblesse. a1400Apol. Loll. 36 In meknes, pouert, paciens, & labour, & oþer vertuus dedis. 1450Lett. Marg. of Anjou, etc. (Camden) 97 The womanly and vertuouse governance that ye be renowned of. 1484Caxton Fables of Auian xi, None oughte to preyse hym self but oughte to doo good and vertuous werkes whereof other may preyse hym. 1509Fisher Serm. Wks. (1876) 271 Blessyd are tho whiche haue made vertuous ende and conclusyon of theyr lyfe in our lorde. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. vii. 37 [They] are much giuen too musick and all other vertuous & honest exercises. 1607Shakes. Timon iii. ii. 44 If his occasion were not vertuous, I should not vrge it halfe so faithfully. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 550 That what she wills to do or say, Seems wisest, vertuousest, discreetest, best. 1712Steele Spect. No. 500 ⁋3 There is one thing I am able to give each of them, which is a virtuous Education. 1759Johnson Rasselas xxxiii, The present reward of virtuous conduct. 1782J. Brown Compend. View Nat. & Rev. Relig. i. 25 To constitute an act truly virtuous, it must originate from a virtuous principle or habit. 1836J. S. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. ix. (1852) 297 Can pride be virtue, or can any act be truly virtuous, if done in pride? 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. i, My Father has got it [sc. my uncle's money] now, and is saving it up for me, which is a highly virtuous purpose. 1871R. W. Dale Commandm. Introd. 11 It is only the virtuous man who knows what is virtuous.
†b. Of writings: = moral a. 3 b. Obs.—1
1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xiv. (Percy Soc.) 53 He made also the tales of Caunterbury; Some vertuous, and some glad and mery.
c. Of a blush: Chaste, modest.
1818Byron Juan i. Ded. vii, Your bays made hide the baldness of your brows—Perhaps some virtuous blushes.
†4. Belonging to the virtuosi. Also absol. with the. Obs. rare.
c1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 10 Most excellent and virtuous Friends, This great Discovery makes amends For all our unsuccessful Pains. 1685Petty Will in Ld. Fitzmaurice Life (1895) 319, I obtained my degree of Doctor of Phisick in Oxford, and forthwith thereupon to be admitted into the College of Phisitians, London, and into severall clubbs of the virtuous.
II. Of things, their operations, etc.
5. a. Producing, or capable of producing, (great) effect; powerful, potent, strong.
In some quots. influenced by or approximating to sense 6.
13..K. Alis. 5228 (Laud MS.), Hij maden fyres vertuous Fyue hundreþ, vche gret als an hous. 1390Gower Conf. III. 137 That word above alle erthli thinges Is vertuous in his doinges, Wher so it be to evele or goode. 1598Chapman Iliad iv. [viii.] 22 Then wil I to Olimpus top our vertuous engine binde, And by it euerie thing shall hang. 1616J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. ix. 394 Till happelie her ffather slewe the snake, and by his virtuous wordes did th' venom slake.
b. Of actions, qualities, etc.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 185 Touchynge þe þridde liknesse, þat is vertuous worchynge. 1422Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 246 Therfor the dygestion is the bettyr and more vertuose in wyntyr than in any othyr tyme. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 3427 And ye may ther..Maken thynges fresshe of hewe, And whan ye lyst, transforme hem newe, Your power ys so vertuous. 1578Lyte Dodoens 1 (heading), Plantes..their temperature, complexions, and vertuous operations. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 367 Then crush this herbe into Lysanders eie; Whose liquor hath this virtuous propertie, To take from thence all error. 1644[H. Parker] Jus Populi 18 Such causes as remain more vertuous then their effects, as the water heated is lesse hot then the fire. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 608 With one vertuous touch Th' Arch-chimick Sun, so farr from us remote..Produces..so many precious things. 1797Coleridge Christabel i. xxi, It is a wine of virtuous powers; My mother made it of wild flowers. 1813Scott Rokeby i. ix, Yet the soil..Had depth and vigour to bring forth The hardier fruits of virtuous worth.
6. Endowed with, or possessed of, inherent or natural virtue or power (often of a magical, occult, or supernatural kind); potent or powerful in effect, influence, or operation on this account; spec. having potent medicinal properties or qualities; efficacious or beneficial in healing. Now arch.
a. Of precious stones, etc.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2027 His cote, wyth þe conysaunce of þe clere werkez, Ennurned vpon veluet vertuuus stonez. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1280 Þe vyoles & þe vesselment of vertuous stones. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. liii. (Bodl. MS.), [The more] þat Jacinctus is liche to þe Saphire in coloure,..þe more vertuous it is. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 80 If þe dyamaund be gude and vertuous, þe adamand drawes noȝt þe nedill to him. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 214/2 A Margaryte, whyche gemme is white lytyl and vertuouse... The virtu of thys Stone is sayd to be ayenst effusyon of blood. 1503Hawes Examp. Virt. iv. 40 Of vertuous turkeys there was a cheyr. a1533Ld. Berners Huon cxlix. 562 The stone was so vertuous that none coud esteme the valure therof. 1626Bacon Sylva §499 There is a virtuous Bezoar and another without virtu which appear to the show alike.
b. Of things in general.
1340Ayenb. 113 Me zayþ þet hit [sacramental bread] is ope substance þet is uirtuous and substanciel aboue onderstondigge. c1440Gesta Rom. lxii. 264 (Add. MS.), This knyght than had a vertuous welle beside his bedde. c1510Gesta Rom. (W. de W.) A iij, All my temporall rychesse I haue exspended, & almoost no thynge is lefte me, excepte a vertuous tre..in the myddes of myne empyre. 1527Brunswyke (title), The vertuose boke Of the distyllacyon of all maner of waters of the herbes in this present volume expressed. 1586Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. iii. i, For neither rain can fall vpon the earth, Nor Sun reflexe his vertuous beames thereon. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 86 Streight way he with his vertuous staffe them strooke And streight of beasts they comely men became. 1629A. Symmer Spir. Posie i. iii. 13 Behold the timely vertuous presence of Gods Providence. 1632Milton Penseroso 113 Canace.., That own'd the vertuous Ring and Glass.
c. Of herbs, etc.
1390Gower Conf. III. 129 And ek his herbe in special The vertuous Fenele it is. c1407Lydg. Reson & Sens. 4433 The erbys..be so vertuous, That no beste venymous..Ne may in no Wyse aproche. c1460Wisdom 92 in Macro Plays 38 The drede of God,..þat makyst..swete wertuus herbys in þe sowll [to] sprynge. 1578Lyte Dodoens v. xxv. 584 The leaves [of mallow] are good for all the greefes afore⁓sayde,..yet they be nothing to vertuous as the roote. 1609C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1634) 108 Where the flowers are most fragrant and vertuous,..there the Honey dews..are most fine and pure. 1614W. B. Philosopher's Banquet (ed. 2) 81 Fylberds..are vertuous in Medicine. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 84 These our mountaines are full of vertuous herbes. 1700Dryden Flower & Leaf 418 The Ladies sought around For virtuous herbs. 1853G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 264 Twenty-five ‘elegant’ copper-plates containing the figures of many of the most virtuous herbs. 1871Browning Balaust. 2124 Cutting the roots of many a virtuous herb To solace overburdened mortals! 1884― Ferishtah Wks. (1896) II. 665/1 By application of a virtuous root The burning has abated.
d. Of drugs, etc.
1600Rowland Lett. Humours Blood vi. 77 Strong sodden Water is a vertuous thing. c1614J. Davies Let. Wks. 1876 I. p. xlviii, Least the intention of to much Reading hinder the working of those vertuous drugs. 1615Chapman Odyss. x. 283 Before her gates hill-wolves, and lions, lay; Which with her virtuous drugs so tame she made, That [etc.]. 1694Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 43/1 By that means you will have a very strong and virtuous Spirit. 1871Hawthorne S. Felton (1879) 99 It is the most virtuous liquor that ever was.
†7. Of great excellence or worth. Obs.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 9460 For now is non so glorious, Ne non in this world so vertuous, As Ilion was the while it stode. c1420Chron. Vilod. 1171 Harp he couthe & syng welle þerto, & carff welle ymagus, & peyntede bothe—Suche virtuose werkus he wolde welle do. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 80 The douffe..Unto the erthe she toke hir flight, And sang a song ful gracious, Of al songes most vertuous.
III. 8. Comb. (in sense 4), as virtuous disposed, virtuous-like, virtuous-making, virtuous-minded, virtuous-seeming adjs.
1450Rolls of Parlt. V. 206/1 By ther Founders and other vertuous disposed persones. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 347 Becoming..as virtuous-making a Pattern among Wives, as she was before among Virgins. 1699Shaftesbury Charac. (1711) II. 36 If that which restrains the Person, and holds him to a virtuous-like Behaviour, be no Affection towards..Virtue it-self,..he is not in reality the more virtuous. 1807Europ. Mag. LII. 469/2 Those, on whom the virtuous-minded Muse Ne'er breath'd a portion of her hallow'd fire. 1959S. Spender tr. Schiller's Mary Stuart iii. iv. 63, I did not hide my sinful deeds behind The false show of a virtuous-seeming face. |