Etymograph

English

ethic

Ethic comes from Middle English etik ‘Moral, relating to morals’, from Late Latin ēthicus ‘ethic, ethical’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἦθος2‘character’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἠθῐκός1ēthĭkós‘expressing or demonstrating one's nature’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEēthicus1‘ethic, ethical’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500etik1‘Moral, relating to morals’
  6. Englishtodayethic1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ethic
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἠθικός

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, English ethic‘to do’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἦθοςWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἠθικός‘character’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἠθῐκόςWiktionary, English ethicēthĭkós‘expressing or demonstrating one's nature’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEēthicusWiktionary, English ethic‘ethic, ethical’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500etikWiktionary, English ethic‘Moral, relating to morals’
  6. EnglishtodayethicWiktionary, English ethic

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’

do, fact, deal, hot, fair, defense, fan, benefit, feature, mid, fashion, defence, custom, theme, treasury, treasure, sufficient, defendant, feast, doom, thesis, deed, dis, theology, ethnic, auditorium, auditor, tick, aesthetic, atheist, demi, synthetic, deem, spade, forfeit, feral, familial, atheism, medial, medallion, 127 more

through Ancient Greek ἦθος ‘character’

ethos, ethology, 5 more

through Middle English etik ‘Moral, relating to morals’

hectic, 1 more

Another origin of ethic

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-‘to do’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἦθοςêthos‘character, moral nature’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἠθικόςēthikós‘of or for morals, moral, expressing character’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἠθικήēthikḗ
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEēthica
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ethique
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500etik‘the principles of human morality’
  8. Englishtodayethic

Today it means

adj Moral, relating to morals.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ethic”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ἠθικός. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / ethic

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