Ethics is the study of right and wrong — what makes an action good, and how anyone could know. It is also the set of rules a job runs on: medical ethics, a code of ethics you sign on your first day.
The tricky part is the verb that follows it. When ethics means the subject, treat it as singular: 'Ethics is taught in the first year.' When it means someone's standards, treat it as plural: 'His ethics are questionable.' An ethics committee approves research, an ethical question is one about right and wrong, and unethical is the accusation. Do not mix it up with work ethic, singular, which is about how hard someone works and nothing to do with morality. Ethics and morals cover almost the same ground; ethics leans public, reasoned and professional, morals leans personal.
1nounphilosophyThe branch of philosophy that studies right and wrong.~44%
“She teaches ethics to first-year medical students.”
synonyms: moral philosophy
2nounethicsThe rules of conduct a profession or group agrees to follow.~54%
“The journal has strict ethics for reporting results.”
3nounmoralA person's own moral standards.~2%
“His ethics would not let him take the money.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 9 sentences found in the wild and placed 9 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
ethics is a branch of philosophy.
Also accepted in games: morality, morals
Ethics traces back through Latin ethica to Ancient Greek ēthiké, from ēthikós, 'of or for morals', and behind that ēthos — a person's character and moral nature. So ethics began as the study of character rather than the study of rules. English still uses ethos on its own for the character of a place or a company.
Ancient Greek
ἠθική
Latin
ethica
Middle French
ethique
Middle English
etik
English, today
ethics
Built from
From Middle English etik, from Middle French ethique, from Latin ethica, from Ancient Greek ἠθική, from ἠθικός (“of or for morals, moral, expressing character”), from ἦθος (“character, moral nature”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA