Words / B2

VURCH-oo/ˈvɜːtʃuː/

A virtue is a good moral quality, or an advantage: name a virtue; by virtue of (because of). Value is wider; quality can be neutral. Name a virtue the speaker claims, then test it. Mix-up: virtual is computer-based (previous entry). Do not call a convenient timetable a virtue in an ethics essay.

Meaning

A good moral quality; also an advantage (by virtue of).

Examples

• “Name a virtue the speaker claims, then test it against the extract.”
• “By virtue of living in the catchment she had a place, which is the “because of” sense.”

Good to know

a virtue; by virtue of. Wider: value. Trap: virtual. RS, literature, and formal prose. Moral good or “because of”, not a gadget.

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