Etymologically
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morality

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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
  • 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