ethos

Meaning

Noun

• The character or fundamental values of a person, people, culture, or movement.
• 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.
• 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 realistic or emotional situations or individual character in a narrow sense; opposed to pathos.

Origin

• From Ancient Greek ἦθος. Cognate to Sanskrit स्वधा ("habit, custom").