G0703
ἀρετή
virtue
ἀρετή, -ῆς, ἡ [in LXX, in sing.: Hab.3:3, Zec.6:13 (הוֹד), in pl.: Isa.42:8, 12 43:21 63:7 (תְּהִלָּה), Wis.4:1 5:13 8:7 2:1-24; 4Mac.2.2 * ;] prop., whatever procures pre-eminent estimation for a person or thing, in Hom. any kind of conspicuous advantage. Later confined by philos. writers to intrinsic eminence-moral goodness, virtue; __(a) of God: 2Pe.1:3; __(b) of men: Php.4:8, 2Pe.1:5; pl. (Isa, Es, ll. with), excellencies: 1Pe.2:9 (the usage appears to be a survival of an early comprehensive sense in which the original idea is blended with the impression which it makes on others, i.e. praise, renown; see Hort, 1 Pe., 129. Deiss., BS, 95 f., thinks it means manifestations of divine power, as in current Gk. speech; cf. also MM, see word)† (AS)
Full Thayer's lexicon entry
ἀρέτη — arétē
ἀρετή, ἀρετῆς, ἡ (see ἄρα at the beginning), a word of very wide signification in Greek writings; any excellence of a person (in body or mind) or of a thing, an eminent endowment, property or quality. Used of the human mind and in an ethical sense, it denotes:
1. a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action; virtue, moral goodness (Wis 4:1 Wis 5:13; often in 4 Macc. and in Greek writings): 2Pe 1:5 (others take it here specifically, viz. moral vigor; cf. next entry).
2. any particular moral excellence, as modesty, purity; hence (plural αἱ ἀρεταί, Wis 8:7; often in 4 Macc. and in the Greek philosophers) τίς ἀρετή, Php 4:8. Used of God, it denotes a. his power: 2Pe 1:3.
b. in the plural his excellences, perfections, 'which shine forth in our gratuitous calling and in the whole work of our salvation' (John Gerhard): 1Pe 2:9. (In the Sept. for הוד splendor, glory, Hab 3:3, of God; Zec 6:13, of the Messiah; in plural for תְּהִלּות praises, of God, Isa 43:21; Isa 42:12; Isa 63:7.)
4 occurrences
Philippians (1), I Peter (1), II Peter (2)