ἠθικός

Forms

ἠθῐκός (ēthikós) m (feminine ἠθῐκή, neuter ἠθῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos, “character, moral nature”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1][2][3][4] The noun differs from ἔθος (éthos, “custom, habit”) only in its long vowel, and both may go back to Proto-Indo-European *swedʰ- (“custom”), though Beekes marks this as doubtful.^[5]

Aristotle wrote that moral virtue is the product of habit and takes its name, with a slight change, from the word for habit.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Aristotle, in the 4th century BC, who uses it often.^[7][4] He calls moral virtue “ethical” in contrast to intellectual virtue, and speeches “ethical” when they express the speaker's character.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle also used it in criticism of the arts: the Odyssey is a poem of character, the Iliad one of passion, and some musical modes, painters and sculptors are “ethical”, expressing character, while the aulos is not.^[3][2] His work on morals was called Ethics.^[3][2]

Later philosophy made the ethical part of philosophy one of its three branches, beside the physical and the dialectical, as in Diogenes Laertius, and Strabo speaks of moral philosophy.^[3] Philo uses the feminine alone for ethics.^[3] Plutarch uses it for tact, and its adverb of a smile full of expression.^[3]

English ethic comes through Old French and Late Latin from the phrase for moral philosophy, and ethics also echoes the title of Aristotle's work.^[8] The word lived on in medieval Greek, and Modern Greek ηθικός (ithikós) is learned, with its modern sense shaped by French moral; the noun ηθικό (ithikó) “morale” is a calque on French.^[9][10][4]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle contrasts moral with intellectual virtue and calls the Odyssey a poem of character.^[3][2][11]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Strabo speaks of moral philosophy.^[3][11]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of tact, and its adverb of an expressive smile.^[3][11]
• 3rd century AD – Diogenes Laertius names ethics as one part of philosophy, beside physics and dialectic.^[3][11]
• Modern Greek – The learned ηθικός (ithikós) means “moral”, with its sense shaped by French usage.^[10][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Moral, relating to moral character, as opposed to intellectual.^[3][2]
2. Concerning ethics: in the neuter plural a treatise on morals, in the feminine ethics itself.^[3][2]
3. Showing or expressing character, of speech, poetry, music, painting and sculpture.^[3][2]
4. Of music: having a good moral influence.^[2]
5. Tactful.^[3]

Word family

• ἠθικῶς (ēthikôs)

Related words

• ἦθος (êthos)
• ἔθος (éthos)
• English ethic
• English ethics

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge