ethos

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos, “character; custom, habit”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈiːθɒs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈiːθoʊs/

Noun

ethos (plural ethe or ethea or ethoses)

1. The character or fundamental values of a person, people, culture, or movement.
2. (rhetoric) A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker invokes their authority, competence or expertise in an attempt to persuade others that their view is correct.
3. (aesthetics) The traits in a work of art which express the ideal or typic character, as influenced by the ethos (character or fundamental values) of a people, rather than realistic or emotional situations or individual character in a narrow sense; opposed to pathos.

Anagrams

• Theos, shote, sothe, those

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈeː.tʰos/, [ˈeː.tʰɔs]

Noun

ēthos n (genitive ētheos); third declension

1. Synonym of mōs
2. (drama) character
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Marcus Terentius Varro to this entry?)
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Pliny the Elder to this entry?)

References

• ēthos in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ethos in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• ēthŏs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette, page 604/1
• “ēthos” on page 623/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Noun

ethos m (plural ethos)

1. (aesthetics) ethos (the character or fundamental values of a person, people, culture or movement)