morality English · revision 15434

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1386|origins=la mōs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /məˈɹælɪti/ ''(UK)''; /məˈɹæləti/, /mo-/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|moralite]], [[bor|fro|moralite|t=moral of a story; moral character]] and directly [[la-lat|mōrālitās|t=manner, character]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[la|mōrālis|t=of manners or morals]] (see [[moral]]),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|mōs|t=custom, manner]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Moral qualities, ethical wisdom, moral instruction: about 1386 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A literary work teaching a moral lesson is from about 1430,^(OED 1989) and modern writers use ''morality'' for the allegorical drama of the 15th and 16th centuries, the morality play, from 1773.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023) The doctrine or system of moral conduct is from the mid-15th century (about 1449),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and moral principles in the plural from 1605.^(OED 1989) Goodness, the quality of being moral, is attested from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1386 – moral qualities; moral instruction.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1430 – a moral composition.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1449 – a system of ethics.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – virtuousness.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1773 – a morality play.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Principles of right and wrong behaviour; a system of [[ethics]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The quality of being [[moral]]; conformity to standards of right conduct.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A lesson in morals.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[morality play]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[premorality]]

+ * [[antimorality]]

+ * [[morality play]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[moral]]

+ * [[morale]]

+ * [[moralise]]

+ * [[moralize]]

+ * [[moralism]]

+ * [[mores]]

+ * [[immorality]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}