n. The study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct.
n. Morality.
n. The standards that govern the conduct of a person, especially a member of a profession.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. The science of human duty; the body of rules of duty drawn from this science; a particular system of principles and rules concerting duty, whether true or false; rules of practice in respect to a single class of human actions
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. The science of right conduct and character; the science which treats of the nature and grounds of moral obligation and of the rules which ought to determine conduct in accordance with this obligation; the doctrine of man's duty in respect to himself and the rights of others.
n. The whole of the moral sciences; natural jurisprudence.
n. A particular system of principles and rules concerning moral obligations and regard for the rights of others, whether true or false; rules of practice in respect to a single class of human actions and duties: as, social ethics; medical ethics.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. motivation based on ideas of right and wrong
n. the philosophical study of moral values and rules
Word Usage
"The term ethics is the most ancient, as dating from Aristotle himself; ēthos, radically related to ethos, from the root ezō, “to set” and"