ethos

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

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noun

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.

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

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

Origin of ethos

1850–55; < Greek: custom, habit, character

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ethoses

ideology, mentality, spirit, mindset, code, psychology, culture, mind, psyche, attitude, values, principles, beliefs

British Dictionary definitions for ethoses

ethos

noun

the distinctive character, spirit, and attitudes of a people, culture, era, etcthe revolutionary ethos

Word Origin for ethos

C19: from Late Latin: habit, from Greek

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ethoses

ethos

revived by Palgrave in 1851 from Greek ethos "moral character, nature, disposition, habit, custom," from suffixed form of PIE root *s(w)e- (see idiom). An important concept in Aristotle (e.g. "Rhetoric" II xii-xiv).