What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Virtue vs Law - What's the difference?

virtue | law |

In obsolete terms the difference between virtue and law

is that virtue is the inherent power of a god, or other supernatural being while law is a tumulus of stones.

In uncountable terms the difference between virtue and law

is that virtue is specifically, moral conduct in sexual behaviour, especially of women; chastity while law is the body of rules and standards issued by a government, or to be applied by courts and similar authorities.

As an interjection law is

an exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.

As a proper noun Law is

{{surname|patronymic|from=given names}.

virtue

English

(wikipedia virtue)

Alternative forms

* vertue (archaic)

Noun

  • (obsolete) The inherent power of a god, or other supernatural being.
  • The inherent power or efficacy of something (now only in phrases).
  • * 2011 , "The autumn of the patriarchs", The Economist , 17 Feb 2011:
    • many Egyptians still worry that the Brotherhood, by virtue of discipline and experience, would hold an unfair advantage if elections were held too soon.
  • (uncountable) Accordance with moral principles; conformity of behaviour or thought with the strictures of morality; good moral conduct.
  • * 1749 , Henry Fielding, Tom Jones , XV.1:
    • There are a set of religious, or rather moral, writers, who teach that virtue is the certain road to happiness, and vice to misery, in this world.
  • A particular manifestation of moral excellence in a person; an admirable quality.
  • * 1766 , Laurence Sterne, Sermon XLIV:
    • Some men are modest, and seem to take pains to hide their virtues ; and, from a natural distance and reserve in their tempers, scarce suffer their good qualities to be known [...].
  • Specifically, each of several qualities held to be particularly important, including the four cardinal virtues, the three theological virtues, or the seven virtues opposed to the seven deadly sins.
  • * 1813 , John Fleetwood, The Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ :
    • The divine virtues of truth and equity are the only bands of friendship, the only supports of society.
  • An inherently advantageous or excellent quality of something or someone; a favourable point, an advantage.
  • * 1719 , :
    • There were divers other plants, which I had no notion of or understanding about, that might, perhaps, have virtues of their own, which I could not find out.
  • * 2011 , The Guardian , Letter, 14 Mar 2011
    • One virtue of the present coalition government's attack on access to education could be to reopen the questions raised so pertinently by Robinson in the 1960s [...].
  • A creature embodying divine power, specifically one of the orders of heavenly beings, traditionally ranked above angels and below archangels.
  • * 1667 , John Milton, Paradise Lost , Book X:
    • Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues , Powers; / For in possession such, not only of right, / I call ye, and declare ye now [...].
  • (uncountable) Specifically, moral conduct in sexual behaviour, especially of women; chastity.
  • * 1813 , Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice :
    • though she did not suppose Lydia to be deliberately engaging in an elopement without the intention of marriage, she had no difficulty in believing that neither her virtue nor her understanding would preserve her from falling an easy prey.

    Synonyms

    *

    Antonyms

    * (excellence in morals) vice * foible

    Derived terms

    * virtuous * make a virtue of necessity * patience is a virtue * in virtue of, by virtue of

    Related terms

    * virago * virile * virtual * virtuosity * virtuosa * virtuoso * virtuous

    See also

    * aretaic * paragon

    External links

    * *

    law

    English

    (wikipedia law)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) lawe, and gesetnes. More at (l).

    Noun

  • (lb) The body of rules and standards issued by a government, or to be applied by courts and similar authorities.
  • :
  • *, chapter=22
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part.
  • A particular such rule.
  • :
  • *
  • *:As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.
  • (lb) A written or understood rule that concerns behaviours and their consequences. Laws are usually associated with mores.
  • :
  • A well-established, observed physical characteristic or behavior of nature. The word is used to simply identify "what happens," without implying any explanatory mechanism or causation. Compare to theory.
  • :
  • (lb) A statement that is true under specified conditions.
  • A category of English "common law" petitions that request monetary relief, as opposed to relief in forms other than a monetary judgment; compare to "equity".
  • (lb) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the MCC.
  • The police.
  • :
  • (lb) One of the two metaphysical forces of the world in some fantasy settings, as opposed to chaos.
  • An oath, as in the presence of a court. See wager of law.
    • Hyponyms
    * sharia law
    Derived terms
    * above the law * against the law * a law unto oneself * * Avogadro’s law * Beer-Lambert law * Boyle’s law * bylaw * canon law * Charles’ law * civil law * common law * contract law * corn laws * Coulomb’s law * criminal law * de Morgan’s laws * employment law * family law * Faraday’s laws * federal law * feudal law * Fourier’s law * Gauss’s law * Graham’s law * Gresham’s law * Henry’s law * Hooke’s law * Hubble’s law * international law * into law * Kepler’s laws of planetary motion * Kerchoff’s laws * law and order * lawful * lawgiver * lawlike * law lord * lawmaker, law-maker * law of cosines * law of large numbers * law of sines * law of small numbers * law of tangents * law of the land * law of the tongue * lay down the law * long arm of the law * lynch law * martial law * Moore’s law * Murphy's law * natural law * Newton’s law of cooling * Newton’s law of gravitation * Newton’s laws of motion * Ohm’s law * physical law * power law * Poiseuille’s law * possession is nine points of the law * property law * Roman law * statuate (statute)+law=statuate law (US) * state law * statute law (Commonwealth English) * Stefan-Boltzmann law * Stokes’ law * sus law * take the law into one’s own hands * the law is an ass * three laws of robotics * unwritten law * Zipf’s law

    See also

    * * *

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) . Also spelled low.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) a tumulus of stones
  • a hill
  • * 1892 , Robert Louis Stevenson, Across the Plains
    • You might climb the Law [...] and behold the face of many counties.

    Etymology 3

    Compare (la).

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.

    • References

    Etymology] in [[:w:da:ODS, ODS]

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * ----