noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/ˈiːθɒs/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:/ˈiθɑs/
US:/ˈiθoʊs/
CMU ARPABET:IY1 TH AA0 S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The character or fundamental values of a person, people, culture, or movement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker invokes their authority, competence or expertise in an attempt to persuade others that their view is correct.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rhetoric
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The traits in a work of art which express the ideal or typic character, as influenced by the ethos (character or fundamental values) of a people, rather than emotional situations or individual character traits in a narrow sense; opposed to pathos.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: art, arts
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
(anthropology) the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the Greek ethos
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: attribute
History
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos, “character; custom, habit”). Cognate to Sanskrit स्वधा (svadhā́, “habit, custom”).
Across languages
Translations
30 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Catalan:
ethos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Chinese Mandarin:
精神
(jīngshén)
— character or fundamental values of a people
Chinese Mandarin:
氣質 /气质
(qìzhì)
— character or fundamental values of a people
Chinese Mandarin:
思潮
(sīcháo)
— character or fundamental values of a people
Czech:
étos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Danish:
etos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Esperanto:
etoso
— character or fundamental values of a people
Finnish:
ilmapiiri
— character or fundamental values of a people
French:
éthos
— character or fundamental values of a people
German:
Gesinnung
— character or fundamental values of a people
Greek:
ήθος
(íthos)
— character or fundamental values of a people
Hebrew:
אתוס
— character or fundamental values of a people
Hungarian:
étosz
— character or fundamental values of a people
Icelandic:
andi
— character or fundamental values of a people
Icelandic:
lífssýn
— character or fundamental values of a people
Indonesian:
etos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Irish:
éiteas
— character or fundamental values of a people
Polish:
etos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Portuguese:
ethos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Romanian:
etos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Russian:
этос
(etos)
— character or fundamental values of a people
Slovak:
étos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Spanish:
ethos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Swedish:
etos
— character or fundamental values of a people
Swedish:
livssyn
— character or fundamental values of a people
Dutch:
ethos
— form of rhetoric
Finnish:
uskottavuudeen luominen
— form of rhetoric
