moralis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [moːˈraː.lɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [moˈraː.lis]^[1]

Forms

mōrālis (neuter mōrāle, adverb mōrāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from mōs, plural mōrēs “customs, character” with the suffix -ālis, a word Cicero formed to translate Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ēthikós, “ethical”).^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero introduces it in the De fato: because it concerns mōrēs, which the Greeks call ḗthē, that part of philosophy may be called mōrālis.^[3][4] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant concerned with ethics, moral, of philosophy, and of or concerned with character, as in Cicero and Seneca.^[2][4] The TLL notes a comparative and later uses, especially in the moral interpretation of Scripture.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant moral.^[7] British Medieval Latin used it of persons, thoughts, books and rules concerned with ethics.^[8] It survives in Italian morale and Portuguese and Romanian moral, and English moral came through Old French in the mid-14th century.^[1][9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero coins it to translate ēthikós.^[2][3][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it.^[4][5]
• mid-14th century – English moral is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Concerned with ethics, moral; of character.^[2]
2. (Christian Latin) Moral, of the moral sense of Scripture.^[6]

Word family

• mōrālitās

Related words

• mōs
• English moral
• English morality

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com