ethos

[ee-thos, ee-thohs, eth-os, -ohs]

noun

1. Sociology.,  the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period.

   In the Greek ethos the individual was highly valued.

2. the character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc.

3. the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character's action rather than their thought or emotion.

ethos

/ ˈiːθɒs /

noun

1. the distinctive character, spirit, and attitudes of a people, culture, era, etc

   the revolutionary ethos

Word History and Origins

Origin of ethos¹

First recorded in 1850–55; from Latin ēthos “character, portrayal of character,” from Greek êthos “custom, habit, disposition character”

Word History and Origins

Origin of ethos¹

C19: from Late Latin: habit, from Greek

Example Sentences

The production, directed by Teddy Bergman, has a field day with the woke-run-amok ethos of Eureka Day, where kids at the school cheer the other team’s goals at soccer games.

From Los Angeles Times

Today’s Republicans are driven by a small government ethos.

From Salon

"The core ethos in Borderlands is that there's going to be a lot of shooting and a lot of dumb humour," she says.

From BBC

While sharing their memory-keeping mothers’ pasted pages and nostalgic ethos, these journals have broken family tradition with their messy aesthetic and preference for oft-discarded objects.

From Los Angeles Times

"While many of these issues are best managed at a school level, consistent with the ethos of the school, the department has a responsibility to set clear, lawful, guiding principles."

From BBC

Related Words

• ideology 
• mentality 
• mindset 
• spirit 

When To Use

What does ethos mean?

The ethos of a culture or society is its collective spirit or character—the fundamental or underlying beliefs and attitudes that influence its customs and practices.Things sometimes said to have an ethos include countries (the American ethos of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), cultures and subcultures (the punk ethos), and eras in time (the counterculture ethos of the ’60s).The word can also refer collectively to such beliefs and attitudes in a person.The term ethos is also used as the name of a particular method of persuasion in which a person relies on their credibility or character when making an appeal or an argument. In this context, it is often discussed alongside logos (an appeal to logic) and pathos (an appeal to emotion).Example: Our company ethos is based on creating a space where people of all backgrounds feel welcome and valued in the workplace.