Definitions for ETHICSˈɛθ ɪks

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word ETHICS

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

eth•icsˈɛθ ɪks(n.)

  1. (used with a sing. or pl. v.) a system or set of moral principles.

    Category: Philosphy

  2. (used with a pl. v.) the rules of conduct governing a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.:

    medical ethics.

    Category: Philosphy

  3. (usu. used with a sing. v.) the branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of actions and the goodness and badness of motives and ends.

    Category: Philosphy

  4. (used with a pl. v.) moral principles, as of an individual:

    His ethics forbade cheating.

Origin of ethics:

1400–50; modeled on Gk tàēthiká

eth•i•cistˈɛθ ə sɪst; ɛˈθɪʃ ən(n.)

Princeton's WordNet

  1. ethical motive, ethics, morals, morality(noun)

    motivation based on ideas of right and wrong

  2. ethics, moral philosophy(noun)

    the philosophical study of moral values and rules

Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

  1. ethics(noun)ˈɛθ ɪks

    beliefs about what is morally right and wrong

    ethics in medicine


  1. ethics(Noun)

    The study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct.

  2. ethics(Noun)


  3. ethics(Noun)


  4. Origin: From ethique, from ethica, from ἠθική, from ἠθικός, from ἦθος.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Ethics(noun)



  1. Ethics

    Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. The term comes from the Greek word ethos, which means "character". Ethics is a complement to Aesthetics in the philosophy field of Axiology. In philosophy, ethics studies the moral behavior in humans and how one should act. Ethics may be divided into four major areas of study: ⁕Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how their truth values may be determined; ⁕Normative ethics, about the practical means of determining a moral course of action; ⁕Applied ethics, about how moral outcomes can be achieved in specific situations; ⁕Descriptive ethics, also known as comparative ethics, is the study of people's beliefs about morality; Ethics seeks to resolve questions dealing with human morality—concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Ethics

    the science which treats of the distinction between right and wrong and of the moral sense by which they are discriminated.

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  1. Ethics


Translations for ETHICS

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

ethics(noun plural)

rules or principles of behaviour.

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