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ethics

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɛθ.ɪks/[1]

Etymology

It is the plural of Middle English ethik, the study of morals (see ethic), modelled on Greek τὰ ἠθικά (tà ēthiká, “ethics”), the title of Aristotle's work.[2][3][4] Ethik is borrowed from Old French ethique, from Late Latin ēthica and Latin ēthicē, from Greek ἠθικός (ēthikós, “ethical”), from ἦθος (êthos, “moral character”).[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The science of morals: 1602 in Barnhart, about 1600 in Etymonline.[2][3] The singular ethik is about 1386, in Chaucer.[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective ethical is from 1607.[2] The sense a set of moral principles, especially those of a particular group or profession, followed.[5][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – ethik, in Chaucer.[2]
  • 1602 – ethics.[2]
  • 1607 – ethical.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (used with a singular verb) The branch of philosophy that studies the principles of right and wrong conduct.
  2. (used with a plural verb) The moral principles that govern a person's or group's behaviour.
  3. The moral correctness of something: the ethics of cloning.

Word family

  • ethicist
  • ethic
  • ethical
  • ethos
  • ethology

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins