Etymologically
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mos

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmoːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɔs][1]

Forms

mōs m (genitive mōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mōs-, of uncertain origin.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives it from Proto-Indo-European *m(e)h₁-ōs (“manner”), from *meh₁- “to measure”, since the meaning is close enough to “measure”.[2] Wiktionary reports the common view that it comes from *meh₁- “to be intent upon, of strong will”, with Greek Ancient Greek μαίομαι (maíomai, “to strive”).[1][4] Isidore calls mōs a long custom.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Naevius.[2][6] Plautus has a liar who says he will act meō mōre “after my own fashion”.[3] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a person's will or whim, as in mōrem gerere “to humour someone”, an established practice or custom, and custom in general as a guide to action, often as opposed to law, so that mōs maiōrum was the custom of the ancestors.[7][3] The ablative mōre meant “in the customary way”, and mōre with a genitive “in the manner of”.[3] In the plural mōrēs were the morals or character of a people or person.[3]

Döderlein contrasts cōnsuētūdō, custom arising from habit, with mōs, custom regarded as a moral rule.[8] Its derivatives mōrālis and mōrōsus gave English moral and English morose, and English mores was borrowed by sociologists in 1907.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][6]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has meō mōre.[3][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence speaks of living after another's fancy.[7][6]
  • mid-14th century – English moral is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Will, whim, mōrem gerere, to humour.[7]
  2. A custom, practice, usage, mōs maiōrum, ancestral custom.[3]
  3. mōre, in the customary way, mōre (+ genitive), in the manner of.[3]
  4. (plural) morals, manners; character.[3]

Word family

  • mōrōsus
  • mōrālis
  • mōrātus
  • mōrigerus
  • moscillus
  • benemōrius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com