ethos
/ˈiːθɒs/
"ethos" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ethos” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,079 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #19,079
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 14
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The character or fundamental values of a person, people, culture, or movement.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ethos |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈiːθɒs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #19,079 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ethos” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ethos is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈiːθɒs/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,079 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for ethos, with forms such as "ehtos", "ethhos", and "ethoss". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "ETS", "Eton", "ethyl", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos, “character; custom, habit”). Cognate to Sanskrit स्वधा (svadhā́, “habit, custom”). The correct English form is ethos, spelled E-T-H-O-S.
Definition
- 1The character or fundamental values of a person, people, culture, or movement.
- 2A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker invokes their authority, competence or expertise in an attempt to persuade others that their view is correct.
- 3The traits in a work of art which express the ideal or typic character, as influenced by the ethos (character or fundamental values) of a people, rather than emotional situations or individual character traits in a narrow sense; opposed to pathos.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos, “character; custom, habit”). Cognate to Sanskrit स्वधा (svadhā́, “habit, custom”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ehtos,ethhos,ethoss,ethso,etohs,etthos,tehos
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ethos - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “ethos”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-T-H-O-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈiːθɒs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ETS” - see the side-by-side comparison. ethos vs ETS
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.