virtue

vir|tue [ `vɜrtʃu ] noun **

1. ) count a good quality or habit that a person has, especially a moral one such as honesty or loyalty:

Patience is not one of my virtues.

teaching children the virtues of discipline and self-control

a ) count a quality that is useful in a particular activity:

Obedience is an important military virtue.

b ) uncount FORMAL a way of behaving in which you do what is morally right and avoid things that are morally wrong

2. ) count an advantage or good feature that something has that makes it better than something else:

virtue of: One virtue of the plan is that it is cheaper to implement.

preach/proclaim/extol the virtues of (=tell people about how good something is): She goes on lecture tours to preach the virtues of free-market capitalism.

3. ) uncount OLD-FASHIONED a woman's VIRGINITY

by virtue of something

because of or as a result of:

By virtue of its beaches and pleasant climate, Hawaii attracts millions of visitors each year.

I got this house by virtue of my job.

make a virtue of something

to get benefits by accepting a situation that you cannot change and using it to your advantage

make a virtue of necessity

to pretend that you are doing something because you have chosen to do it and because it will bring you benefits, when in fact it is something that you must do