Plural of Ethos

What Is the Plural of Ethos?

The best plural of "ethos" is "ethe."

• The diverse ethe of the global communities showcased a rich tapestry of cultural values at the international summit.
• When studying ancient civilizations, historians often compare the ethe of different societies to understand their approaches to law and morality.
• The new leadership program blends the best elements from the various corporate ethe to create a comprehensive guide for ethical business practices.

Potentially, "ethea" is also an acceptable plural, but "ethoi" and "ethoses" are both incorrect (explained below).

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The Standard Rules for Forming the Plurals

The table below shows the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English.

Type	Example of Type	Forming the Plural	Plural
Most Nouns	cat scythe	add s	cats scythes
Noun Ending s, sh, ch, x or z	bus dress	add es	buses dresses
Nouns ending [consonant] o	mango zero tomato	add either s or es (There are no rules for this - you have to know.)	mangoes or mangos zeros tomatoes
Nouns ending [vowel] o	patio ratio	add s	patios ratios
Nouns ending [consonant] y	story penny	change the y to an i and add es	stories pennies
Nouns ending [vowel] y	storey () donkey	add s	storeys donkeys
Mass nouns	air rice	some nouns do not have a plural form	air rice
Nouns ending f or fe	dwarf knife	ves and/or s (There are no rules - you have to know.)	dwarfs knives
Exceptions	goose louse	some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change	geese lice
More exceptions	salmon sheep	some nouns do not change at all	salmon sheep
Foreign rulings	ethos medium	some nouns adopt foreign rulings	ethe media

Read more about English spelling rules.

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Ethos?

"Ethos" derives from Greek and so does its plural "ethe." In English, some words adopt their foreign plurals (e.g., phenomenon becomes "phenomena"), and some don't (e.g., octopus becomes "octopuses"). "Ethos" is one that adopts its foreign plural, but this is where the problems start.

If you follow the standard rules in Greek for pluralizing nouns ending "-os," you would end up with the ending "-oi." This is why "ethoi" is often cited as the correct plural. However, in Greek, "ethos" is not a masculine noun – as could reasonably be expected – and its Greek plurals are either:

• "ethe" (the commonly used, contracted form), or
• "ethea" (the less commonly used, uncontracted form)

Of course, there is a fair chance that your readers will not know what "ethe" or "ethea" means. Therefore, although not supported etymologically, there is a good argument for using "ethoses." (If "ethos" and its plural were more common, popular usage would likely have already turned the plural into "ethoses.")

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