ethic

• ethick (obsolete)

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛθ.ɪk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

From Middle English etik, from Late Latin ēthicus, from Ancient Greek ἠθῐκός (ēthikós).

ethic (comparative more ethic, superlative most ethic)

1. Moral, relating to morals.

• ethic dative

From Middle English etik, ethik, from Old French ethique, from Late Latin ēthica, from Ancient Greek ἠθική (ēthikḗ), from ἠθικός (ēthikós, “of or for morals, moral, expressing character”), from ἦθος (êthos, “character, moral nature”).

ethic (plural ethics)

1. A set of principles of right and wrong behaviour guiding, or representative of, a specific culture, society, group, or individual.

   The Protestant work ethic.

   I think the golden rule is a great ethic.

2. The morality of an action. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Sometimes confused with ethnic.

• ethical
• ethics
• ethos

• “ethic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “ethic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “ethic”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• Citeh, etchi, theic