English → Latin
“ethics” in Latin
The English word ethics itself goes back to Latin ēthicus, through ethica.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
ethics
philosophia moralis, or philosophiae pars moralis (Vid: quotation from Cic., in Ethic): doctrina or scientia moralis: ea philosophia (or philosophiae pars), quae est de vita et moribus (☞ Cic., Tusc., 3, 4, 8): philosophia, in qua de hominum vita, et moribus disputatur (as Cic., Brut., 8, 31): philosophia, quae virtutis, officii et bene vivendi disciplinam continet (as Cic., Pis., 29, 71): or ea philosophiae pars, qua mores conformari putantur (after Cic., Fin., 4, 2, 5): descriptio expetendarum fugiendarumve rerum (Cic.): cognitio virtutis (Tusc., 5, 25, 71). Sometimes virtus only (e.g., ab iis inventa et perfecta virtus est, Tusc., 5, 1, 2); or officia, plur., (e.g., hunc locum philosophi solent in officiis tractare, Cic., Orat. 21, 72): ☞ ethice (Quint.); ethica, ae (Lactantius).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for ethics?
- The usual Latin words for “ethics” are doctrīna, philosophia. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.