morale

Etymology

It is borrowed from French morale (“morality, good conduct”), the noun use of the feminine of the adjective moral (“moral”),^[2][3][4][5] from Old French moral and ultimately Latin mōrālis, from mōs (“custom”).^[5] In the modern sense of confidence and spirit it follows instead the masculine noun moral, mental or moral condition:^[2][3][6] the English spelling with final -e is partly a confusion with morale and partly a way of showing the stress on the second syllable.^[2][7][8] Modern French distinguishes the masculine noun, temperament, from the feminine, morality.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moral principles or conduct, morality: 1752, in a letter of Lord Chesterfield to his son.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the early 19th century morale also meant a moral lesson (1812–1824) and a moral aspect (1814–1834).^[2] The sense now usual, the mental and emotional state of a person or group with regard to confidence, hope and zeal, is first recorded in 1813, according to the OED,^[2] and in 1831, according to Barnhart and Etymonline;^[3][4] it was used especially of soldiers, sailors and others engaged in a dangerous undertaking.^[4][3] The older sense of morality is now rare.^[2][7] Compounds such as morale-booster grew out of the newer sense.^[7]

Timeline

• 1752 – morality, moral conduct (now rare).^[2][3][4]
• 1812 – a moral lesson (obsolete by 1824).^[2]
• 1813 – the confidence and spirit of a person or group (1831 in Barnhart and Etymonline).^[2][3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The confidence, enthusiasm and willingness of a person or group, especially at a hard task: Morale in the squad fell after the third defeat.^[9][6][2]
2. (rare) Moral principles or conduct; morality.^[6][2][7]

Related words

• moral
• morality
• mores

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins