Adjacent Words

Morality definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MORAL'ITY, n. The doctrine or system of moral duties, or the duties of men in their social character; ethics.
The system of morality to be gathered from the writings of ancient sages, falls very short of that delivered in the gospel.
1. The practice of the moral duties; virtue. We often admire the politeness of men whose morality we question.
2. The quality of an action which renders it good; the conformity of an act to the divine law, or to the principles of rectitude. This conformity implies that the act must be performed by a free agent, and from a motive of obedience to the divine will. This is the strict theological and scriptural sense of morality. But we often apply the word to actions which accord with justice and human laws, without reference to the motives form which they proceed.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct [ant: immorality]
2: motivation based on ideas of right and wrong [syn: ethical motive, ethics, morals, morality]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -ties) Date: 14th century 1. a. a moral discourse, statement, or lesson b. a literary or other imaginative work teaching a moral lesson 2. a. a doctrine or system of moral conduct b. plural particular moral principles or rules of conduct 3. conformity to ideals of right human conduct 4. moral conduct ; virtue

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 the degree of conformity of an idea, practice, etc., to moral principles. 2 right moral conduct. 3 a lesson in morals. 4 the science of morals. 5 a particular system of morals (commercial morality). 6 (in pl.) moral principles; points of ethics. 7 (in full morality play) hist. a kind of drama with personified abstract qualities as the main characters and inculcating a moral lesson, popular in the 16th c. Etymology: ME f. OF moralité or LL moralitas f. L (as MORAL)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Morality Mo*ral"i*ty, n.; pl. Moralities. [L. moralitas: cf. F. moralit['e].] 1. The relation of conformity or nonconformity to the moral standard or rule; quality of an intention, a character, an action, a principle, or a sentiment, when tried by the standard of right. The morality of an action is founded in the freedom of that principle, by virtue of which it is in the agent's power, having all things ready and requisite to the performance of an action, either to perform or not perform it. --South. 2. The quality of an action which renders it good; the conformity of an act to the accepted standard of right. Of moralitee he was the flower. --Chaucer. I am bold to think that morality is capable of demonstration. --Locke. 3. The doctrines or rules of moral duties, or the duties of men in their social character; ethics. The end of morality is to procure the affections to obey reason, and not to invade it. --Bacon. The system of morality to be gathered out of . . . ancient sages falls very short of that delivered in the gospel. --Swift. 4. The practice of the moral duties; rectitude of life; conformity to the standard of right; virtue; as, we often admire the politeness of men whose morality we question. 5. A kind of allegorical play, so termed because it consisted of discourses in praise of morality between actors representing such characters as Charity, Faith, Death, Vice, etc. Such plays were occasionally exhibited as late as the reign of Henry VIII. --Strutt. 6. Intent; meaning; moral. [Obs.] Taketh the morality thereof, good men. --Chaucer.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(moralities) 1. Morality is the belief that some behaviour is right and acceptable and that other behaviour is wrong. ...standards of morality and justice in society. N-UNCOUNT 2. A morality is a system of principles and values concerning people's behaviour, which is generally accepted by a society or by a particular group of people. ...a morality that is sexist. = ethic N-COUNT 3. The morality of something is how right or acceptable it is. ...the arguments about the morality of blood sports. N-UNCOUNT: usu the N of n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mo-ral'-i-ti.

See ETHICS.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Morals, ethics, moral philosophy. 2. Virtue, goodness, honesty, integrity, honor.

Moby Thesaurus

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