Etymologically
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ἦθος

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ɛ̂ː.tʰos/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈi.θos/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈi.θos/[1]

Forms

ἦθος (êthos) n (genitive ἤθους); third declension[1]

Etymology

It differs from ἔθος (éthos, “custom”) only in its long vowel; the /o/ grade appears in εἴωθα (eíōtha, “I am accustomed”).[2][3] It goes back to older *ϝῆθος (*wêthos), and Homer shows traces of the initial /w/.[1][2] Wiktionary compares Sanskrit स्वधा (svadhā́, “custom”),[1] and Etymonline traces it to the reflexive pronoun root Proto-Indo-European *s(w)e-.[1][4] Beekes calls further connections uncertain, and rejects comparisons with Sanskrit सस्य (sasyá, “produce”) and अवस (avasá, “food”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only the plural ἤθεα, for the accustomed haunts of animals: the haunts and pasture of horses (Iliad 6.511) and the sties of swine (Odyssey 14.411).[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod and Herodotus use the plural for the abodes of men, and Herodotus says the sun once rose “out of its accustomed place”.[5] The singular, from Hesiod and Pindar on, is custom and character: the nature and disposition of persons, gods, animals and states (Theognis, Heraclitus, tragedy), habits and ways, and the customs of a people.[7][2] Xenophon and Plutarch use it for outward bearing.[7]

Aristotle made it a technical term of literary criticism, for characterisation and for a character in a play, and its adjective ἠθικός (ēthikós) “of character, moral” is his.[7][2] English ethos (1851) comes from it.[4] Modern Greek ήθος is a learned word.[8]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the plural for animals' haunts.[5][6]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for character and for abodes.[7][5][9]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus uses it for character.[7][9]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for characterisation in drama.[7][9]
  • 1851 – English ethos is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (plural) Accustomed places, haunts, abodes.[5][1]
  2. Character, disposition, nature.[7][1]
  3. Outward bearing, demeanour.[7]
  4. (literary criticism) Characterisation; a character in a play.[7][1]
  5. (plural) Habits, customs, manners.[7][1]

Word family

  • ἀήθης (aḗthēs)
  • εὐήθης (euḗthēs)
  • ἠθάς (ēthás)
  • ἠθεῖος (ētheîos)
  • ἠθικός (ēthikós)
  • ἠθοποιός (ēthopoiós)
  • κακοήθης (kakoḗthēs)
  • ὁμοήθης (homoḗthēs)
  • συνήθης (sunḗthēs)
  • χειροήθης (kheiroḗthēs)
  • χρηστοήθης (khrēstoḗthēs)
  • ἠθαλέος (ēthaléos)
  • ἠθολόγος (ēthológos)
  • καλοήθης (kaloḗthēs)
  • English ethos
  • English ethic

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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
  3. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge