ἦθος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From the Proto-Indo-European *swēdʰ-.

Noun

ἦθος (genitive ἤθους) n, (ēthos)

1. character
2. custom, habit

Inflection

Third declension of ἦθος, ἤθεος (uncontracted)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἦθος	ἤθεε	ἤθεᾰ
Genitive	ἤθεος	ηθέοιν	ηθέων
Dative	ἤθεϊ	ηθέοιν	ἤθεσσῐ(ν)
Accusative	ἦθος	ἤθεε	ἤθεᾰ
Vocative	ἦθος	ἤθεε	ἤθεᾰ

This inflection pattern originally had a sigma (i.e. ἤθεσος), which was dropped early on in the history of Ancient Greek.

Third declension of ἦθος, ἤθους (contracted)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἦθος	ἤθει	ἤθη
Genitive	ἤθους	ηθοῖν	ηθῶν
Dative	ἤθει	ηθοῖν	ἤθεσῐ(ν)
Accusative	ἦθος	ἤθει	ἤθη
Vocative	ἦθος	ἤθει	ἤθη

The irregular accentuation of this paradigm is explained by the fact that it is the contracted version of the above paradigm.

Derived terms

• ἠθολόγος

Descendants

• English: ethos

References

• ἦθος in A Greek-English Lexicon by Liddell & Scott, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1940