[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

virtue \vir"tue\ ?; 135, n. oe. vertu, f. vertu, l. virtus
   strength, courage, excellence, virtue, fr. vir a man. see
   virile, and cf. virtu.
   1. manly strength or courage; bravery; daring; spirit; valor.
      obs. --shak.
      1913 webster

            built too strong
            for force or virtue ever to expugn.   --chapman.
      1913 webster

   2. active quality or power; capacity or power adequate to the
      production of a given effect; energy; strength; potency;
      efficacy; as, the virtue of a medicine.
      1913 webster

            jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue
            had gone out of him, turned him about. --mark v. 30.
      1913 webster

            a man was driven to depend for his security against
            misunderstanding, upon the pure virtue of his
            syntax.                               --de quincey.
      1913 webster

            the virtue of his midnight agony.     --keble.
      1913 webster

   3. energy or influence operating without contact of the
      material or sensible substance.
      1913 webster

            she moves the body which she doth possess,
            yet no part toucheth, but by virtue's touch. --sir.
                                                  j. davies.
      1913 webster

   4. excellence; value; merit; meritoriousness; worth.
      1913 webster

            i made virtue of necessity.           --chaucer.
      1913 webster

            in the greek poets, . . . the economy of poems is
            better observed than in terence, who thought the
            sole grace and virtue of their fable the sticking in
            of sentences.                         --b. jonson.
      1913 webster

   5. specifically, moral excellence; integrity of character;
      purity of soul; performance of duty.
      1913 webster

            virtue only makes our bliss below.    --pope.
      1913 webster

            if there's power above us,
            and that there is all nature cries aloud
            through all her works, he must delight in virtue.
                                                  --addison.
      1913 webster

   6. a particular moral excellence; as, the virtue of
      temperance, of charity, etc. "the very virtue of
      compassion." --shak. "remember all his virtues."
      --addison.
      1913 webster

   7. specifically: chastity; purity; especially, the chastity
      of women; virginity.
      1913 webster

            h. i believe the girl has virtue.
            m. and if she has, i should be the last man in the
            world to attempt to corrupt it.       --goldsmith.
      1913 webster

   8. pl. one of the orders of the celestial hierarchy.
      1913 webster

            thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers.
                                                  --milton.
      1913 webster

   cardinal virtues. see under cardinal, a.

   in virtue of, or by virtue of, through the force of; by
      authority of. "he used to travel through greece by virtue
      of this fable, which procured him reception in all the
      towns." --addison. "this they shall attain, partly in
      virtue of the promise made by god, and partly in virtue of
      piety." --atterbury.

   theological virtues, the three virtues, faith, hope, and
      charity. see --1 cor. xiii. 13.
      1913 webster
see also:
virile virtu cardinal virtues cardinal in virtue of by virtue of 
theological virtues 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

cardinal \car"dinal\, a. l. cardinalis, fr. cardo the hinge of
   a door, that on which a thing turns or depends: cf. f.
   cardinal.
   of fundamental importance; pre"eminent; superior; chief;
   principal.
   1913 webster

         the cardinal intersections of the zodiac. --sir t.
                                                  browne.
   1913 webster

         impudence is now a cardinal virtue.      --drayton.
   1913 webster

         but cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, i fear ye.
                                                  --shak.
   1913 webster

   cardinal numbers, the numbers one, two, three, etc., in
      distinction from first, second, third, etc., which are
      called ordinal numbers.

   cardinal points
   a geol. the four principal points of the compass, or
       intersections of the horizon with the meridian and the
       prime vertical circle, north, south east, and west.
   b astrol. the rising and setting of the sun, the zenith
       and nadir.

   cardinal signs astron. aries, libra, cancer, and
      capricorn.

   cardinal teeth zool., the central teeth of bivalve shell.
      see bivalve.

   cardinal veins anat., the veins in vertebrate embryos,
      which run each side of the vertebral column and returm the
      blood to the heart. they remain through life in some
      fishes.

   cardinal virtues, pre"eminent virtues; among the
      ancients, prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude.

   cardinal winds, winds which blow from the cardinal points
      due north, south, east, or west.
      1913 webster
see also:
cardinal numbers ordinal numbers cardinal points cardinal signs cardinal teeth bivalve 
cardinal veins cardinal virtues cardinal winds 

Cardinal >> C Words
Cardinal, definition of term: Cardinal
cardinal_pag1.html

Cardinal Richel >> C Words
Cardinal Richel, definition of term: Cardinal Richel
cardinal+richel_pag1.html

Cardinal Virtue >> C Words
Cardinal Virtue, definition of term: Cardinal Virtue
cardinal+virtue_pag1.html

Cardinal Points >> C Words
Cardinal Points, definition of term: Cardinal Points
cardinal+points_pag1.html

Cardinal Number >> C Words
Cardinal Number, definition of term: Cardinal Number
cardinal+number_pag1.html

Cardinal Bird >> C Words
Cardinal Bird, definition of term: Cardinal Bird
cardinal+bird_pag1.html

Cardinal Number >> C Words
Cardinal Number, definition of term: Cardinal Number
cardinal+number_pag1.html