virtue

virtue

vir‧tue W3 /ˈvɜːtʃuː $ ˈvɜːr-/ BrE AmE noun
[Date: 1100-1200; Language: Old French; Origin: virtu, from Latin virtus 'strength, virtue', from vir 'man']
1. [uncountable] formal moral goodness of character and behaviour OPP vice:
Women have often been used as symbols of virtue.
2. [countable] a particular good quality in someone’s character OPP vice:
Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness.
3. [uncountable and countable] an advantage that makes something better or more useful than something else
virtue of
Adam Smith believed in the virtues of free trade.
Wilkins is now extolling (=praising very much) the virtues of organic farming.
4. by virtue of something formal by means of, or as a result of something:
She became a British resident by virtue of her marriage.
5. make a virtue of something to get an advantage from a situation that you cannot change, usually a bad one:
She made a virtue of her acting limitations by joking about them.
6. make a virtue of necessity to get an advantage from doing something that you have to do, or to pretend that you are doing it willingly
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THESAURUS
▪ advantage a good feature that something has, which makes it better, more useful etc than other things: The great advantage of digital cameras is that there is no film to process.
▪ benefit a feature of something that has a good effect on people’s lives: Regular exercise has many benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease.
▪ merit a good feature that something has, which you consider when you are deciding whether it is the best choice: The committee will consider the merits of the proposals. | The merits and demerits of (=the good and bad features of)alternative funding systems were widely discussed in the newspapers. | The chairman saw no great merit in this suggestion (=he did not think that it was a good idea).
▪ virtue an advantage that makes you believe that something is a good thing: They believed in the virtues of culture, civilization, and reason. | He’s always extolling the virtues of hard work (=saying that hard work is a good thing).
▪ the good/great/best thing about something especially spoken used when mentioning a good feature of something. This phrase is rather informal and you should not use it in formal essays: The good thing about cycling is that you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in a traffic jam.
▪ the beauty of something is that used when you want to emphasize that something has a very good or useful feature: The beauty of the plan is that it is so simple.