# moral

Pronunciation: US say "MOR-uhl" /ˈmoɹəl/; UK say "MO-ruhl" /ˈmɒɹəl/

## Adjective

1. Concerned with principles of right and wrong behavior, especially as a means of teaching good conduct.
   - Simple: Having to do with what is right and wrong, especially when teaching good behavior.
   - _The fable closes with a moral lesson about honesty._
   - _Religious schools weave moral instruction into nearly every subject._
3. Acting in line with accepted standards of right behavior; approved by one's conscience or ethical judgment.
   - Simple: Behaving in a way that is right and good.
   - _Returning the lost wallet was the moral thing to do._
   - _She is widely respected as a deeply moral leader._
5. Acting on the mind, feelings, or will rather than through physical means, especially by giving encouragement or confidence.
   - Simple: Working on how someone thinks or feels, not on their body, often by giving them hope or courage.
   - _Volunteers offered moral support to the families waiting at the hospital._
   - _Losing by a single vote still felt like a moral victory for the campaign._
6. Able to act with awareness of right and wrong; capable of ethical choice.
   - Simple: Able to tell right from wrong and choose how to act.
   - _Humans are moral creatures, able to weigh right against wrong._
   - _Philosophers debate whether a machine could ever be a moral being._
7. Strongly likely on the basis of reason or probability, though not formally proven.
   - Simple: Almost sure because it seems very likely, but not proven.
   - _Nothing was proven in court, but the lawyers treated it as a moral certainty that the company knew the risks._
   - _The detective spoke with moral certainty, though he had no hard proof._

## Noun

2. Standards of right conduct and the practices that put them into action.
   - Simple: The rules of right and wrong that guide how someone behaves.
   - _Whatever the cost, he never let money come before his morals._
   - _Public morals shifted sharply over the course of the century._
4. The practical lesson or ethical point that a story or event teaches.
   - Simple: The lesson that a story or event teaches.
   - _The moral of the fable is that kindness is never wasted._
   - _Listeners debated the moral of the strange tale long after it ended._

## Noun

8. A near-certainty; something regarded as a sure thing, especially a likely winner. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Something that seems almost sure to happen, such as a horse expected to win.
10. An exact counterpart or perfect likeness of another person or thing. *(dated)*
   - Simple: An exact copy or match of someone or something.
11. A medieval drama in which characters represent virtues and vices in order to teach a moral lesson. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old kind of play that teaches a lesson about right and wrong.

## Verb

9. To moralize; to comment on questions of right and wrong, often in a lecturing way. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To talk about what is right and wrong, often in a preachy way.

## Origin

Cicero was the first to use mōrālis, a Latin word for "relating to manners or morals," as his translation of Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ēthikós, "moral"). The Latin word was built on mos ("manner, custom") and came into English through Old French moral and Middle English moral.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/moral (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).