ethics

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛθ.ɪks/

• Audio (Southern England)

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Noun

ethics (countable and uncountable, plural ethics)

1. (philosophy) The study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct.
2. Morality.
3. The standards that govern the conduct of a person, especially a member of a profession.

Usage notes

• Although the terms ethics and morality are often used interchangeably, philosophical ethicists sometimes distinguish them, using ethics to refer to theories and conceptual studies relating to good and evil and right and wrong, and using morality and its related terms to refer to actual, real-world beliefs and practices concerning proper conduct. In this vein, the American philosopher Brand Blanshard wrote concerning his friend, the eminent British ethicist G. E. Moore: "We often discussed ethics, but seldom morals. . . . He was a master in ethical theory, but did not conceive himself as specially qualified to pass opinions on politics or social issues."

Synonyms

• moral philosophy

Derived terms

• applied ethics
• bioethics
• business ethics
• cacoethics
• code of ethics
• comparative ethics
• descriptive ethics
• environmental ethics
• ethicist
• ethics of reciprocity
• evolutionary ethics
• interim ethics
• lifeboat ethics
• medical ethics
• meta-ethics
• metaethics
• normative ethics
• situational ethics
• virtue ethics

 

Related terms

• ethic
• ethical
• ethos

Translations

study of principles governing right and wrong conduct

• Afrikaans: etiek
• Arabic: عِلْم الْأَخْلَاق m (ʕilm al-ʔaḵlāq)
• Armenian: բարոյագիտություն (hy) (baroyagitutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: etika
• Belarusian: э́тыка f (étyka)
• Bengali: আখলাক (bn) (akholak), নৈতিকতা (nōitikota)
• Bulgarian: е́тика (bg) f (étika)
• Catalan: ètica (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 倫理學／伦理学 (leon⁴ lei⁵ hok⁶)

  Mandarin: 倫理學／伦理学 (zh) (lúnlǐxué)

• Czech: etika (cs) f
• Danish: etik c
• Dutch: zedenkunde (nl) f, ethiek (nl) f
• Estonian: eetika
• Faroese: siðalæra f, siðafrøði f
• Finnish: etiikka (fi)
• French: éthique (fr) f
• Georgian: ეთიკა (etiḳa)
• German: Ethik (de) f
• Greek: ηθική (el) m (ithikí)
• Hungarian: etika (hu), erkölcstan (hu)
• Indonesian: etika (id)
• Irish: eitic f
• Italian: etica (it) f
• Japanese: 倫理学 (ja) (りんりがく, rinrigaku)
• Kazakh: этика (kk) (étika)
• Khmer: សីលវិជ្ជា (km) (səl vɨcciə)
• Korean: 윤리학(倫理學) (ko) (yullihak), 륜리학(倫理學) (ko) (ryullihak) (North Korea)
• Latvian: ētika f
• Macedonian: етика f (etika)
• Malay: etika (ms)
• Maori: matatika
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: этик (etik)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: etikk (no) m

  Nynorsk: etikk m

• Persian: فلسفه اخلاق (falsafe-ye axlâq), علم اخلاق ('elm-e axlâq), اصول اخلاق (osul-e axlâq)
• Polish: etyka (pl) f
• Portuguese: ética (pt) f
• Russian: э́тика (ru) f (étika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ѐтика f

  Roman: ètika (sh) f

• Slovak: etika (sk) f
• Spanish: ética (es) f
• Swedish: etik (sv) c
• Tagalog: palaasalan, dalub-asalan, dalubasalan, asalan
• Tajik: илми ахлоқ (ilmi axloq), одоб (tg) (odob)
• Thai: จริยธรรม (th) (jà-rí-yá-tam), จริยศาสตร์ (th) (jà-rí-yá-sàat)
• Turkish: etik (tr)
• Ukrainian: е́тика f (étyka)
• Vietnamese: luân lý học (vi) (倫理學), đạo đức học (vi) (道德學)
• Yiddish: עטיק f (etik)

standards of conduct

• Afrikaans: eties
• Arabic: أَخْلَاق (ʔaḵlāq), أَدَب (ar) m (ʔadab)
• Armenian: էթիկա (hy) (ētʻika)
• Azerbaijani: etika
• Belarusian: э́тыка f (étyka)
• Bengali: আখলাক (bn) (akholak)
• Bulgarian: е́тика (bg) f (étika)
• Catalan: ètica (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 倫理／伦理 (leon⁴ lei⁵)

  Hokkien: 倫理／伦理 (lûn-lí)

  Mandarin: 倫理／伦理 (zh) (lúnlǐ), 道德 (zh) (dàodé)

• Czech: etika (cs) f
• Dutch: zedenkunde (nl) f, ethiek (nl) f
• Finnish: etiikka (fi), moraali (fi)
• French: éthique (fr) f
• German: Verhaltenskodex (de) m, Ethik (de) f
• Hebrew: אֶתִיקָה (he) f
• Irish: eitic f
• Italian: etica (it) f
• Japanese: 倫理 (ja) (りんり, rinri)
• Khmer: សីលធម៌ (səylaʼthɔə)
• Korean: 윤리(倫理) (ko) (yulli), 륜리(倫理) (ko) (ryulli) (North Korea)
• Latvian: ētika f
• Macedonian: етика f (etika)
• Maori: matatika, tikanga matatika
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: etikk (no) m

  Nynorsk: etikk m

• Persian: اخلاق (fa) (axlâq), ادب (fa) (adab)
• Portuguese: ética (pt) f
• Russian: э́тика (ru) f (étika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ѐтика f

  Roman: ètika (sh) f

• Slovak: etika (sk) f
• Spanish: ética (es) f
• Swedish: etik (sv) c
• Tagalog: kaasalan, asalan
• Tajik: одоб (tg) (odob)
• Turkish: ahlak (tr)
• Ukrainian: е́тика f (étyka)
• Vietnamese: luân lý (vi) (倫理)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} etiko

See also

• aretaics
• etiquette

Further reading

• “ethics”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• cis-het, cishet, itches, theics, tiches