ethos [ee-thos, ee-thohs, eth-os, -ohs] ExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for ethos on Thesaurus.com noun
- Sociology. the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period: In the Greek ethos the individual was highly valued.
- the character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc.
- the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character’s action rather than his or her thought or emotion.
Origin of ethos 1850–55; Greek: custom, habit, character Related Words for ethos ideology, mentality, spirit, mindset, code, psychology, culture, mind, psyche, attitude, values, principles, beliefs Examples from the Web for ethos Contemporary Examples of ethos
When Cocker took on board the black American ethos, he turned it into something completely different.
The Greatest Rock Voice of All Time Belonged to Joe Cocker
Ted Gioia
December 23, 2014
But very little of the ISIS ethos has to do with hitting the Freedom Tower or the Capitol Dome.
Iraq Is Not Our War Anymore. Let It Be Iran’s Problem.
Christopher Dickey
July 17, 2014
As AOL evolved, this ethos of personalization began to permeate the entire user experience.
We’re All Still Secretly Using Our 1990s AOL Screen Names. Why?
Andrew Romano
January 23, 2014
It was a feel-good tale that reinforced the ethos of a merit-based free society.
Why Do You Hate Justin Bieber?
Rawiya Kameir
December 26, 2013
Now, the ethos of the Internet offers a new way to define rubes: as the people we ought to ignore.
From Smarm To Snark, We’re All Soldiers In The War On Obscurity
James Poulos
December 7, 2013
Historical Examples of ethos
What each nation stands for, its ethos, its personality, must be made clear.
G.E. Partridge
The ethos of the satiric persona was something they could not understand.
Leonard Welsted
I can find no passage in which this source of ethos is indicated.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music
David Binning Monro
It is “ethical” or “moral” in the sense of conforming to the ethos or mores of the group.
John Dewey and James Hayden Tufts
They were criminals, by their own ethos, when they desecrated our dead.
The Leicestershires beyond Baghdad
Edward John Thompson
British Dictionary definitions for ethos ethos noun
- the distinctive character, spirit, and attitudes of a people, culture, era, etcthe revolutionary ethos
Word Origin for ethos C19: from Late Latin: habit, from Greek Word Origin and History for ethos n.
revived by Palgrave in 1851 from Greek ethos “moral character, nature, disposition, habit, custom,” from suffixed form of PIE root *s(w)e- (see idiom). An important concept in Aristotle (e.g. “Rhetoric” II xii-xiv).