# ethos

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈiːθɒs/ · frequency rank #19,079

## Definitions
1. The character or fundamental values of a person, people, culture, or movement.
2. A 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.
3. The 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **ETS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ethos-vs-ets)
- **Eton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ethos-vs-eton)
- **ethyl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ethos-vs-ethyl)
- **Eos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eos-vs-ethos)
- **eth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eth-vs-ethos)
- **echo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/echo-vs-ethos)
- **egos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/egos-vs-ethos)
- **eros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eros-vs-ethos)
- **Enos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/enos-vs-ethos)
- **Ethan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ethan-vs-ethos)
- **ethic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ethic-vs-ethos)
- **ether** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ether-vs-ethos)
- **Ethel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ethel-vs-ethos)
- **ethics** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ethics-vs-ethos)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ehtos`, `ethhos`, `ethoss`, `ethso`, `etohs`, `etthos`, `tehos`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ethos