ethical

English Online Dictionary. What means ethical‎? What does ethical mean?

English

Etymology

From ethic +‎ -al, from Late Latin ethicus (“moral, ethical”), from Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ēthikós, “of or for morals, moral, expressing character”), from ἦθος (êthos, “character, moral nature”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛθɪkəl/

Adjective

ethical (comparative more ethical, superlative most ethical)

1. (philosophy, not comparable) Of or relating to the study of ethics.

2. (not comparable) Of or relating to the accepted principles of right and wrong, especially those of some organization or profession.

3. (comparable) Morally approvable; good.

4. (of a drug, not comparable) Only dispensed on the prescription of a physician.

Coordinate terms

• moral (often differentiated on the basis of a distinction between societally conventional and innately righteous)

Derived terms

Related terms

• ethic
• ethics
• ethos

Translations

See also

• ethical dative

Noun

ethical (plural ethicals)

1. An ethical drug, one only dispensed on the prescription of a physician.

References

• “ethical”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• ethical in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “ethical”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “ethical”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• alethic