ἔθος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *swe-dʰh₁- (“custom, character”), from the reflexive pronoun *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”), equivalent to the acc. ἕ (hé) of οὗ (hoû, “him”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to set”). Cognate to Sanskrit स्वधा (svadhā́, “habit, custom”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /é.tʰos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈe.tʰos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.θos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.θos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈe.θos/

Noun

ἔθος • (éthos) n (genitive ἔθους or ἔθεος); third declension

habit; custom; manner; way
disposition; temper
(in the dative) by habit (habitually); by custom (customarily)

Declension

Third declension of τὸ ἔθος; τοῦ ἔθους (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔθος tò éthos	τὼ ἔθει tṑ éthei	τᾰ̀ ἔθη tằ éthē
Genitive	τοῦ ἔθους toû éthous	τοῖν ἐθοῖν toîn ethoîn	τῶν ἐθῶν tôn ethôn
Dative	τῷ ἔθει tōî éthei	τοῖν ἐθοῖν toîn ethoîn	τοῖς ἔθεσῐ / ἔθεσῐν toîs éthesĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ ἔθος tò éthos	τὼ ἔθει tṑ éthei	τᾰ̀ ἔθη tằ éthē
Vocative	ἔθος éthos	ἔθει éthei	ἔθη éthē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of τὸ ἔθος; τοῦ ἔθεος (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔθος tò éthos	τὼ ἔθεε / ἔθει tṑ éthee / éthei	τᾰ̀ ἔθεᾰ tằ étheă
Genitive	τοῦ ἔθεος / ἔθευς toû étheos / étheus	τοῖν ἐθέοιν toîn ethéoin	τῶν ἐθέων tôn ethéōn
Dative	τῷ ἔθεῐ̈ / ἔθει tōî étheĭ̈ / éthei	τοῖν ἐθέοιν toîn ethéoin	τοῖσῐ / τοῖσῐν ἔθεσῐ / ἔθεσῐν toîsĭ(n) éthesĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ ἔθος tò éthos	τὼ ἔθεε / ἔθει tṑ éthee / éthei	τᾰ̀ ἔθεᾰ tằ étheă
Vocative	ἔθος éthos	ἔθεε / ἔθει éthee / éthei	ἔθεᾰ étheă
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

ἐθάς (ethás)
ἐθήμων (ethḗmōn)
ἐθίζω (ethízō)
ἐθικός (ethikós)
ἔθιμος (éthimos)
ἦθος (êthos)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ἔθος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 378

“ἔθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἔθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
ἔθος in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001), A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
ἔθος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
G1485 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- conventionality idem, page 173.
- custom idem, page 191.
- fashion idem, page 308.
- habit idem, page 380.
- practice idem, page 631.
- routine idem, page 723.
- wont idem, page 987.

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ἔθος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 378

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