The origins and meanings of words
My OED vol 1, p686, says that ethos is derived from modern Latin taken from the older Greek ‘ethos’, meaning ‘character’. This is after Aristotle in Rhetoric, 11 xii-xiv and elsewhere. The word became more used in English from 1851 in the sense of character, or prevalent tone of a community or institution and from around 1875 it was often used in opposition to pathos, emotion.
A fascinating Word of the Day, especially given the current goings-on in Australian politics 
mtierney said:
Word of the day..
ETA: the Greek was spelt in Greek but I don’t have a Greek keyboard even though I can read it. Sorry. The original word is actually pronounced the same.
Not everyone’s reading the other word-worthy thread, so I’m cross-posting.
This article is a delightful read, not a prank and worth either bookmarking or keeping a copy of:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/01/isnt-it-irenic-its-time-to-bring-back-beautiful-words-we-have-lost
Despite the writer’s claims, I do know (and have known) several Irenes, of various age groups and backgrounds. Usually girls and women with warm friendly personalities, big smiles and fierce loyalty to family and friends (so I can imagine situations in which a peaceful nature might become warrior-like).
Note the para on negative behaviours and their lost positive antonymns; very interesting indeed.
joanne said:
Not everyone’s reading the other word-worthy thread, so I’m cross-posting.
This article is a delightful read, not a prank and worth either bookmarking or keeping a copy of:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/01/isnt-it-irenic-its-time-to-bring-back-beautiful-words-we-have-lost
Despite the writer’s claims, I do know (and have known) several Irenes, of various age groups and backgrounds. Usually girls and women with warm friendly personalities, big smiles and fierce loyalty to family and friends (so I can imagine situations in which a peaceful nature might become warrior-like).
Note the para on negative behaviours and their lost positive antonymns; very interesting indeed.
Didn't see this before. Irene's my mother's name.
Who knew? Over the decades, we had one cat at a time for the most part —for a few years, two. Along with a dog, of course.
Word of the day..