Salute to a virtuous person (5)
I believe the answer is:
toast
'salute' is the definition.
(I know that salute can be written as toast)
'to a virtuous person' is the wordplay.
'virtuous person' becomes 'st' (saint).
'to'+'a'+'st'='TOAST'
(Other definitions for toast that I've seen before include "Brown under a grill" , "It's found under marmalade and butter" , "Browned bread; health" , "Grill - clinking of glasses" , "Perhaps all the best" .)