morality

Pronunciation

• IPA: /məˈɹælɪti/ (UK); /məˈɹæləti/, /mo-/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English moralite, borrowed from Old French moralite (“moral of a story; moral character”) and directly Late Latin mōrālitās (“manner, character”),^[2][3][4] from Latin mōrālis (“of manners or morals”) (see moral),^[2][3] from mōs (“custom, manner”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moral qualities, ethical wisdom, moral instruction: about 1386 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

A literary work teaching a moral lesson is from about 1430,^[5] and modern writers use morality for the allegorical drama of the 15th and 16th centuries, the morality play, from 1773.^[5][6] The doctrine or system of moral conduct is from the mid-15th century (about 1449),^[2][5] and moral principles in the plural from 1605.^[5] Goodness, the quality of being moral, is attested from the 1590s.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1386 – moral qualities; moral instruction.^[5]
• c. 1430 – a moral composition.^[5]
• c. 1449 – a system of ethics.^[5]
• 1590s – virtuousness.^[2]
• 1773 – a morality play.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Principles of right and wrong behaviour; a system of ethics.
2. The quality of being moral; conformity to standards of right conduct.
3. A lesson in morals.
4. A morality play.

Word family

• premorality
• antimorality
• morality play

Related words

• moral
• morale
• moralise
• moralize
• moralism
• mores
• immorality

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins