Deserve — virtue (5)
I believe the answer is:
merit
I believe this is a double definition.
'deserve' is the first definition.
(I know that deserve can be written as merit)
'virtue' is the second definition.
(I know that virtue can be written as merit)
(Other definitions for merit that I've seen before include "credit" , "Worth; deserve" , "Advantage" , "Excellence, desert" , "distinction" .)