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ἦθος

ethos

custom, usage

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Where it lives

Densest 12 of 51 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. ἔθος · ethos — Beekes

ἔθος [n.) ‘custom, usage’ (IA). <1E? *sued"- ‘custom, character’> DER Old only ἐθάς [m,, f.] ‘used (to) (Hp., Th.); late ἔθιμος ‘usual’ (Amorgos 1", Ὁ. S., etc.; after νόμιμος, Arbenz 1933: 99), ἐθικός ‘usual’ (Plu.), ἐθήμων ‘id,’ (Musae.) with ἐθημο-λογέω ‘to collect as usual’ (AP), ἐθημοσύνη (H., Suid.). Denominative verb ἐθίζω (not with Schwyzer 716 from *é6w, see ἔθων and εἴωθα) with ἔθισμα ‘usage’ (PI.), … — [Beekes, s.v. ἔθος, p. 425]

2. ἦθος · ēthos — Beekes

ἦθος [n.] ‘custom, usage’ (Hes., Pi.), plur. ἤθεα ‘accustomed place, haunts’ (IL). <1E? *sued"- ‘custom, use’> ecOMP As a first member, with analogical compositional vowel, e.g. in ἠθο-ποιός ‘edifying’ (Arist.), as a second member e.g. in κακο-ήθης ‘with bad habits’ (1A). *DER ἡθεῖος ‘reliable, beloved’ (Hom., Hes.), also ἠθαῖος (Pi., Antim.), after γενναῖος et al; ἠθάς, -άδος [m., f.] ‘usual, reliable’ (Hp., 8.) … — [Beekes, s.v. ἦθος, p. 558]

3. ἦθος · ēthos — Beekes

ἦθος [n.] ‘breast, chest’, also as the seat of emotions, ‘heart’ (I].), metaph. ‘ball of the iand, foot’ (medic.), ‘sandbank’ (Plb., etc.). «Ὁ» VAR Frequently plur. -ea, -1. COMP στηθό-δεσμος, -ic, -ia, -ἡ “breast-band’ (Poll, LXX, Hell. pap.), peyadd-, ukpd-ot18o¢ ‘with wide or narrow chest’ (Mnesith. apud Orib.). DER Diminutive στηθ-ίον (Alex., Arist., etc.), -idtov (Phryn.), -bviov (middle com., XX); cf. χελύνιον … — [Beekes, s.v. ἦθος, p. 1454]

4. ἔθος · ethos — Chantraine

ἔθος, voir εἴωθα. épis : τομίας, κριός (Hsch.) ; en outre ἴθρις * σπάδων, τομίας, εὐνοῦχος (Hsch.). La fermeture en τ fait penser à celle que l’on observe dans ἴσθι « sois », ἱδρύω, etc. Terme d'élevage, p.-ê. populaire, ce qui expliquerait la variation de la forme. Et.: Le skr. a védhri- « castré » et on évoque skr. védharn. «arme d’Indra», av. vadar- n. «arme de jet», cf. Benveniste, Origines 13. Bibliographie … — [Chantraine, s.v. ἔθος, p. 330]

5. ἦθος · ēthos — Chantraine

ἦθος : n, au pl ἤθεα «séjour habituel, gîte des animaux » (Hom., poètes); le sg. attesté depuis Hés. (puis Pi, ion.-att., ete.) signifie « manière d'être habituelle, coutume, caractère », etc. Le sens de « caractère, comportement», déjà attesté chez Hés., prend une grande importance, notamment dans la composition et la dérivation, cf. Johanna Schmidt, Ethos. Beiträge zum antiken Werlempfinden, Borna, 1944; … — [Chantraine, s.v. ἦθος, p. 421]

6. ἔθος · ethos — LSJ

custom, habit, the habit, by habit, habitually

custom, habit, ἔ. τὸ πρόσθε τοκήων (but prob. f.l. for ἦθος) A. Ag. 728 (lyr.); τὸ σύνηθες ἔ. S. Ph. 894; εἰ τὸ ἔ. συνθήκη Pl. Cra. 435a; πάτρια ἔ. Id. Plt. 295a: prov., "ἔ., φασί, δευτέρη φύσις" Jul. Mis. 353a; ἐν ἔθει τῇ πόλει εἶναι to be the habit, Th. 2.64; ἔ. ἐστίν τινι, c. inf., Cratin.Jun. 7.1, Alex. 253; ἔθος ἔχειν, c. inf., Plu. Them. 4; ἔθει by habit, habitually, opp. φύσει, Arist. EN 1179b21; ἐν ἔθει Id. Fr. 122; διʼ ἔθος, opp. ἐκ γενετῆς, Id. EN 1154a33; ἐξ ἔθους ib. 1103a17; κατὰ τὰ

7. ἦθος · ēthos — LSJ

an accustomed place, haunts, abodes, the abodes of men, accustomed place

an accustomed place: hence, in pl., haunts or abodes of animals, μετά τʼ ἤθεα καὶ νομὸν ἵππων Il. 6.511; [σύας] ἔρξαν κατὰ ἤθεα κοιμηθῆναι Od. 14.411; of lions, Hdt. 7.125; of fish, Opp. H. 1.93; of the abodes of men, Hes. Op. 167, 525, Hdt. 1.15, 157, A. Supp. 64 (lyr.), E. Hel. 274, Pl. Lg. 865e, Arist. Mu. 398b33; ἔλεγον ἐξ ἠθέων τὸν ἥλιον ἀνατεῖλαι away from his accustomed place, Hdt. 2.142; of plants, Callistr. Stat. 7: metaph., with play on signf. II, Pl. Phdr. 277a.

II custom, usage, manners, customs

custom, usage: in pl., manners, customs, Hes. Op. 137, Th. 66, Hdt. 2.30, 35, 4.106, Th. 2.61; τρόποι καὶ ἤθη Pl. Lg. 896c; ἐθρέψω Ξέρξην ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἤ. ib. 695e; φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρήσθʼ ὁμιλίαι κακαί PHib. 1.7.94 (E. Fr. 1024 = Men. 218); τοῖς ἤθεσιν ἁπλοῦς D.S. 5.21.

2 disposition, character, moral character, traits, characteristics

disposition, character, ἐπίκλοπον ἦθος Hes. Op. 67, 78; ἦ. ἐμφυές Pi. O. 11(10).20; ἀκίχητα ἤ., of Zeus, A. Pr. 187; τοὐμὸν ἦ. παιδεύειν S. Aj. 595; ὦ μιαρὸν ἦ. Id. Ant. 746; τὸ τῆς πόλεως ἦ. Isoc. 2.31; βελτίων τῆς πόλεως τὸ ἦ. D. 20.14; esp. moral character, opp. διάνοια, Arist. EN 1139a1; as the result of habit, τὸ πᾶν ἦ. διὰ ἔθος Pl. Lg. 792e, cf. Arist. EE 1220a39; ἦ. ἀνθρώπῳ δαίμων Heraclit. 119; ἦ. πηγὴ βίου Stoic. ap. Stob. 2.7.1; τῆς ψυχῆς, τῆς γνώμης, Pl. R. 400d, D. 61.16: freq. opp.

b bearing

of outward bearing, ὡς ἱλαρὸν τὸ ἦ. X. Smp. 8.3; ὑγρότης ἤθους Lycurg. 33; ὑψηλὸς τῷ ἤ. Plu. Dio 4: in pl., of facial expression, ὀφθαλμῶν ἤθη Philostr. Gym. 25.

c delineation of character

in Rhet., delineation of character, ἦ. ἔχουσιν οἱ λόγοι ἐν ὅσοις δήλη ἡ προαίρεσις Arist. Rh. 1395b13; ἦ. ἐμφαίνειν Phld. Rh. 1.200S.; esp. opp. πάθος, Longin. 9.15, etc.; κατʼ ἦ. λέγεσθαι, opp. κατὰ πάθος, D.H. Comp. 22, cf. Lys. 19: in pl., πραγμάτων καὶ ἠθῶν Phld. Po. 5.5; ἐν πάθεσι καὶ ἤθεσιν Demetr. Eloc. 28, etc.; so of works of art, ἡ Ζεύξιδος γραφὴ οὐδὲν ἔχει ἦ. Arist. Po. 1450a29; πάθος καὶ ἦ. καὶ σχημάτων χρῆσις Ael. VH 4.3; πολλὰ ἤθη ἐπιφαίνει Philostr. Her. 2.10; also of Music, S.E.

d dramatis persona

dramatis persona, εἰσάγει ἄνδρα ἢ γυναῖκα ἢ ἄλλο τι ἦ. Arist. Po. 1460a11, al.

3 nature, kind

also of animals, ἦ. τὸ πρὸς τοκέων (prob.l.for ἔθος) A. Ag. 727, cf. E. Hipp. 1219, Pl. R. 375e, Arist. HA 487a12 (pl.); τὸ ἦ. ἀσθενής, of a bird, ib. 615a18; of things, nature, kind, παρὰ δʼ ἦ. ἑκάστῳ (to each of the four elements) Emp. 17.28; τοῦ πυρετοῦ Gal. 7.353.

4 tactfully

ἐν ἤθει tactfully (cf. ἠθικός II 2), προσφέρεσθαι τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν Plu. Adul. 2.73e. cf. Herm. in Phdr. p.195A.; διὰ μέτριον ἦθος, of the expression δοκεῖ μοι, Steph. in Hp. 1.59D.

In the wild

6 of 431 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

  • Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) Treated in Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) s.v. ἦθος (scan pp. 1454-1455; entry #5783).
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. ἦθος (scan p. 421; entry #2969).

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