Etymograph

English

moral

Moral comes from Old French moral, from Latin mōrālis, from mōs ‘custom, manner’, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₁-1‘to measure’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mōs1‘custom, manner’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōs1‘way or manner’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōrālis1‘relating to manners or morals’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400moral1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500moral1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1841moral1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English moral
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1841, Thomas Macaulay: “We protest against the principle that the world of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₁-Wiktionary, English moral‘to measure’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mōsWiktionary, English moral‘custom, manner’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōsWiktionary, English moral‘way or manner’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōrālisWiktionary, English moral‘relating to manners or morals’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400moralWiktionary, English moral
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500moralWiktionary, English moral
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1841moralWiktionary, English moral. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1841, Thomas Macaulay: “We protest against the principle that the world of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- ‘to measure’

month, measure, moon, meal, meter, sunny, dimension, immense, metric, metre, meta, mesa, moody, menstrual, asymmetry, commensurate, mensa, madder, metrology, mete, metis, menses, firman, metra, moodiness, 64 more

through Latin mōs ‘way or manner (of behaving)’

mores, morose, 5 more

through Latin mōrālis ‘relating to manners or morals’

demoralize, 2 more

Today it means

adj Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially conforming to principles of rectitude.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “moral”. 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 *meh₁- / moral

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