Etymologically
Log in

moralitas

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 14:15. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [moːˈraː.lɪ.taːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [moˈraː.li.tas][1]

Forms

mōrālitās f (genitive mōrālitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mōrālis (“of manners, moral”) + -tās.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the fourth century on in Christian writers and the grammarians;[2] it may go back to Tertullian, but the TLL gives it with certainty only from Ambrose.[2] Donatus' commentary on Terence uses it for the portrayal of character in a play.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the grammarians and rhetoricians it is the portrayal of character: Fortunatianus says it belongs to the ethical kind of speech that considers people's manners, as comedies do,[2] and Macrobius uses it for characterisation.[3][5] Ambrose used it for morality.[3][6]

Medieval writers used it for good morals, moral character and the conduct that comes from it,[7][8] and for ethics as a field of study.[8] Peter of Blois complains that a man is promoted for venality, not morality: non moralitas sed venalitas.[7][6] In the late fifteenth century it named a morality play.[6] In New Latin it was also the moral meaning of a poet's fiction.[9] English took it over in the late 14th century as morality, from Old French and directly from Late Latin.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 310–380 AD – Donatus uses it for the portrayal of character in Terence.[2][4]
  • c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it for morality.[3][2][4]
  • first half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it for characterisation.[3][5][4]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it.[8][4]
  • second half of the 12th century – Peter of Blois sets moralitas against venalitas.[7][6][4]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as morality.[10]
  • 1497 – Statutes of the church of Toul mention moralitates.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Character, the portrayal of manners and character.[3][2][11]
  2. Morality, moral conduct.[3][12][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Moral character and the behaviour that comes from it.[8][7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Ethics as a field of study.[8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A morality play.[6]
  6. (New Latin) The moral meaning of a story or fiction.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e f du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ a b c d Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
  8. ^ a b c d e f 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 Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson