ethos
pronunciation
How to pronounce ethos in British English:
UK [ˈiːθɒs]
How to pronounce ethos in American English:
US [ˈiːθɑːs]
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- Noun:
- (anthropology) the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era
Word Origin
- ethos (n.)
- "the 'genius' of a people, characteristic spirit of a time and place," 1851 (Palgrave) from Greek ethos "habitual character and disposition; moral character; habit, custom; an accustomed place," in plural, "manners," from suffixed form of PIE root *s(w)e- third person pronoun and reflexive (see idiom). An important concept in Aristotle (as in "Rhetoric" II xii-xiv).
Example
- 1. The corporate ethos of every culture is in some sense unique .
- 2. Quantity , not quality , is the ethos of bienniales and art fairs .
- 3. Though some stragglers have been allowed to go to the wall , this insiderish ethos still lingers .
- 4. The internet is making news more participatory , social , diverse and partisan , reviving the discursive ethos of the era before mass media .
- 5. For a while , the post-feminist , sex and the city ethos felt so glamorous and came as such a relief after the gender wars of the 1970s and 1980s , that sexism seemed to have become a dirty word .