(used with a singular or plural verb) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.
(used with a plural verb) the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.
(used with a plural verb) moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.
(used with a singular verb) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.Compare axiological ethics, deontological ethics.
Origin of ethics
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English ethic + -s3, modeled on Greek tà ēthiká, neuter plural
Will Huntsberry reports that as part of her probation she’ll also be required to take a medical ethics course.
Morning Report: Hotel Workers Want Their Jobs Back|Voice of San Diego|September 8, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Barrios stressed in the new filing that “no conflicts arose” during his period of overlapping employment, but he could have run afoul of the city’s ethics ordinance anyway.
Barrios Was Paid by Union While Working for Council President|Andrew Keatts and Jesse Marx|September 2, 2020|Voice of San Diego
It is yet another potential violation of the city’s ethics rules.
Barrios Was Paid by Union While Working for Council President|Andrew Keatts and Jesse Marx|September 2, 2020|Voice of San Diego
This is, of course, nothing new, but it has highlighted the need for international standards on ethics and reporting mechanisms that are flexible but responsive.
Why South Asia’s COVID-19 Numbers Are So Low (For Now)|Puja Changoiwala|June 23, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Anya’s been thinking a lot about Disney princesses lately because of a writing project she had in school, for ethics class.
Does Hollywood Still Have a Princess Problem? (Ep. 394)|Stephen J. Dubner|October 24, 2019|Freakonomics
Fridays there is ethics and law of war training and instruction.
Pentagon Insider on New Plan to Fight ISIS: ‘Of Course It’s Not Enough’|Nancy A. Youssef|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
She knows the ethics behind this, and she wants those ethics to be visible on a broad scale.
Taylor Swift Dumps Spotify, Igniting Turf War Between Spotify and Apple|Dale Eisinger|November 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“These decisions should not be made in private, but with an ethics committee,” he said.
U.K. Courts Grant Mother Right to End Her 12-Year-Old Disabled Daughter’s Life|Elizabeth Picciuto|November 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By stepping down, the embattled McCaffery preempted an ethics investigation that could have cost him his state pension.
Judges Behaving Badly: A Great American Tradition|Asawin Suebsaeng|October 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A month before the Ethics Committee vote that McConnell boasts about today, he and Dole were publicly defending Packwood.
And Now Mitch McConnell Is the ‘Pro-Woman’ Candidate!|Eleanor Clift|October 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The doctrine of the mean in conduct comes from the ethics of Aristotle.
A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy|Isaac Husik
In such a country, militarism is not the scourge it is with us; and the difference is due to the Confucian ethics.
The Problem of China|Bertrand Russell
Many of them are singular, such as politics, mathematics, ethics.
The Style Book of The Detroit News|The Detroit News
But this new system of ethics means nothing more than a new way of understanding the old system of ethics.
Books and Habits from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn|Lafcadio Hearn
Besides, here is a problem in ethics for Mr. Montagu to solve.
A Daughter of Raasay|William MacLeod Raine
British Dictionary definitions for ethics
ethics
/ (ˈɛθɪks) /
noun
(functioning as singular)the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and of the rules and principles that ought to govern it; moral philosophySee also meta-ethics
(functioning as plural)a social, religious, or civil code of behaviour considered correct, esp that of a particular group, profession, or individual
(functioning as plural)the moral fitness of a decision, course of action, etche doubted the ethics of their verdict
The branch of philosophy that deals with morality. Ethics is concerned with distinguishing between good and evil in the world, between right and wrong human actions, and between virtuous and nonvirtuous characteristics of people.