Ethics

How to spell ethics

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ethics

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ethics mean?

1. nounThe moral principles that govern how a person or group behaves.
2. nounThe branch of philosophy that studies questions of right and wrong conduct.

Ethics in a sentence

• The company published a code of ethics for all employees.

• She enrolled in a university course on ethics and political theory.

• Her professional ethics would not allow her to accept the bribe.

• The lecturer compared ancient Greek ethics with modern moral reasoning.

Where does ethics come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek ethos, which originally meant a person's customary character, habit, or accustomed place. From ethos the Greeks formed the adjective ethikos, meaning 'relating to character or moral nature', and Aristotle's treatise on moral conduct, the Ethika, gave the term its philosophical weight. The word travelled into Latin as ethica and then into English through Old French in the late 1300s, at first describing the study of morals. Over time the plural 'ethics' came to name both the academic field and the set of moral principles that guide behaviour. The 'th' in the spelling preserves the Greek theta, the same letter that survives in relatives like 'ethos' and 'ethnic', which is a useful clue that this is a Greek word rather than a Latin one.

How the word is built

• eth- (from Greek ethos: character, custom)
• -ic (relating to)
• -s (plural/subject suffix)