ˈethik, -thēk noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English etik, ethik, from Middle French ethique, from Late Latin ethica & Latin ethice, from Greek ēthikē, from ēthikē, adjective, feminine of ēthikos moral, ethic
1. ethics plural but usually singular in construction : the discipline dealing with what is good and bad or right and wrong or with moral duty and obligation
the sphere of ethics for the Greeks was not distinguished from the sphere of aesthetics — Havelock Ellis
2.
a. : a group of moral principles or set of values
the Christian ethic
even the code of the gangster … has its own ethic — R.P.Warren
Puritan ethics
Lincoln had been pondering the ethics of slavery — A.C.Cole
b. : a particular theory or system of moral values
a materialistic ethic
naturalistic ethics
c. ethics plural but singular or plural in construction : the principles of conduct governing an individual or a profession : standards of behavior
social ethics
professional ethics
a certain ethics makes it impossible for me to review the production … which I directed — New Republic
3. : character or the ideals of character manifested by a race or people
while the rituals … are complex and stylized, the meaning behind them and their significance shows how far advanced was Indian religious culture and ethic — Seth Agnew
— compare ethos