noun · 9 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
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UK:/məˈɹælɪti/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ælɪti
CMU ARPABET:M ER0 AE1 L AH0 T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Recognition of the distinction between good and evil or between right and wrong; respect for and obedience to the rules of right conduct; the mental disposition or characteristic of behaving in a manner intended to produce morally good results.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A set of social rules, customs, traditions, beliefs, or practices which specify proper, acceptable forms of conduct.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A set of personal guiding principles for conduct or a general notion of how to behave, whether respectable or not.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A lesson or pronouncement which contains advice about proper behavior.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A morality play.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
Moral philosophy, the branch of philosophy which studies the grounds and nature of rightness, wrongness, good, and evil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rare, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
A particular theory concerning the grounds and nature of rightness, wrongness, good, and evil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ethical motive, ethics, morals
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: motivation, motive, need
Narrower terms: hedonism, conscience, scruples, moral sense, sense of right and wrong, Inner Light, Light, Light Within, Christ Within
History
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman moralité, Middle French moralité, from Late Latin mōrālitās (“manner, characteristic, character”), from Latin mōrālis (“relating to manners or morals”), from mōs (“manner, custom”). equivalent to moral + -ity.
Across languages
Translations
117 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
moral
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Arabic:
أَخْلَاق
(ʔaḵlāq)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Arabic:
أَخْلَاقِيَّة
(ʔaḵlāqiyya)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Armenian:
բարոյականություն
(baroyakanutʻyun)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Azerbaijani:
əxlaq
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Belarusian:
мара́ль
(marálʹ)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Bengali:
আখলাক
(akholak)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Bengali:
নৈতিকতা
(nōitikota)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Bulgarian:
мора́л
(morál)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Catalan:
moralitat
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Chinese Mandarin:
道德
(dàodé)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Czech:
morálka
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Danish:
moral
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Dutch:
moraal
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Estonian:
moraal
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Finnish:
moraali
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
French:
moralité
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Galician:
moralidade
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Georgian:
მორალი
(morali)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
German:
Moral
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
German:
Moralität
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Greek:
ηθική
(ithikí)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Hindi:
सदाचार
(sadācār)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Hindi:
अख़लाक़
(axlāq)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Hindi:
नैतिकता
(naitiktā)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Hungarian:
erkölcs
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Icelandic:
siðferði
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Indonesian:
moralitas
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Indonesian:
sopan santun
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Irish:
moráltacht
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Old Irish:
mórálus
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Italian:
moralità
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Japanese:
道徳
(dōtoku)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Kazakh:
ақылақ
(aqylaq)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Kazakh:
мораль
(moral)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Khmer:
សីលធម៌
(səylaʼthɔə)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Khmer:
ធម្មចរិយា
(thŏəm caʼreyaa)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Korean:
도덕
(dodeok)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Kyrgyz:
мораль
(moral)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Kyrgyz:
ахлак
(ahlak)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Lao:
ສີລະທໍາ
(sī la tham)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Latin:
mōrālitās
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Latvian:
morāle
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Lithuanian:
moralė
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Macedonian:
морал
(moral)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Malay:
akhlak
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Malay:
moral
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Malayalam:
സദാചാരം
(sadācāraṁ)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Malayalam:
ധാർമ്മികത
(dhāṟmmikata)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Manx:
beasaght
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Khiamniungan Naga:
tàngsǜlàng
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Nepali:
नैतिकता
(naitiktā)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Norwegian Bokmål:
moral
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Pashto:
اخلاق
(axlāq)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Persian:
اخلاق
(axlâq)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Plautdietsch:
Sittenlia
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Polish:
moralność
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Portuguese:
moralidade
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Romanian:
moralitate
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Russian:
мора́ль
(morálʹ)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Russian:
э́тика
(étika)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Scottish Gaelic:
moraltachd
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Serbo-Croatian:
мо̀ра̄л
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Serbo-Croatian:
mòrāl
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Slovak:
morálka
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Slovene:
morala
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Spanish:
moralidad
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Swedish:
sedlighet
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Swedish:
moral
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Tagalog:
kasanlingan
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Tagalog:
kagandahang-asal
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Tajik:
ахлоқ
(axloq)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Tatar:
әхлак
(äxlaq)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Thai:
ศีลธรรม
(sǐin-tam)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Turkish:
ahlak
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Turkish:
aktöre
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Turkish:
sağtöre
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Turkmen:
ahlak
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Ukrainian:
мора́ль
(morálʹ)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Urdu:
اخلاق
(axlāq)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Uyghur:
ئەخلاق
(exlaq)
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Uzbek:
axloq
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Vietnamese:
đạo đức
— recognition of or obedience to the rules of right conduct
Bulgarian:
е́тика
(étika)
— personal guiding principles
Finnish:
moraali
— personal guiding principles
Finnish:
periaatteet
— personal guiding principles
Galician:
moralidade
— personal guiding principles
Greek:
ηθική
(ithikí)
— personal guiding principles
Greek:
ήθος
(íthos)
— personal guiding principles
Latvian:
morāle
— personal guiding principles
Romanian:
moralitate
— personal guiding principles
Russian:
мора́ль
(morálʹ)
— personal guiding principles
Russian:
нра́вственность
(nrávstvennostʹ)
— personal guiding principles
Scottish Gaelic:
moraltachd
— personal guiding principles
Turkish:
erdem
— personal guiding principles
Bulgarian:
нра́вственост
(nrávstvenost)
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Chinese Mandarin:
道德
(dàodé)
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Finnish:
moraali
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Finnish:
tavat
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Galician:
moral
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Greek:
ήθη
(íthi)
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Greek:
ήθος
(íthos)
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Latvian:
morāle
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Russian:
нра́вственность
(nrávstvennostʹ)
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Scottish Gaelic:
moraltachd
— set of customs, traditions, rules of conduct
Chinese Mandarin:
道德
(dàodé)
— lesson or pronouncement
Finnish:
opettavainen tarina
— lesson or pronouncement
