ἔθος

Word

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ἠθική (ἀρετή)

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ

Transliteration (Word)

ēthikos

English translation (word)

moral

Transliteration (Etymon)

ethos

English translation (etymon)

custom, habit

Author

Aristotle

Century

4 BC

Source

Idem

Ref.

Nicomachean Ethics 1103a17

Ed.

I. Bywater, Aristotle's Ethica Nicomachea, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1894

Quotation

ἡ δὲ ἠθικὴ [ἀρετή] ἐξ ἔθους περιγίνεται, ὅθεν καὶ τοὔνομα ἔσχηκε μικρὸν παρεκκλῖνον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔθους

Translation (En)

whereas ēthikē “moral or ethical virtue” is the product of ethos “habit”, and has indeed derived its name, with a slight variation of form, from that word (transl. Rackham)

Other translation(s)

Modern Greek: την ηθική αρετή, ωστόσο, την αποκτούμε με τη συνήθεια, από όπου πήρε και το όνομά της, το οποίο παρεκκλίνει λίγο μόνο από το έθος

Comment

The etymology relies on the alternation e ~ ē (τίθεμεν ~ τίθημι)

Modern etymology

Chantraine (1970, 407): "Ἠθικός" derives from ἦθος, meaning 'habit, custom, character, behaviour' . The word is ultimately related to ἔθος

Persistence in Modern Greek

Adjective "ηθικός" is still used in MG with the meanings: a) 'the one that concerns the established social rules', b) 'the character who respects social rules', c) 'the one that concerns moral issues' (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of MG)

Entry By

Maria Chriti
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