Definition of: ethos

(ē′thos) noun
1. The characteristic spirit, disposition, or tendency of a people or community regarded as an endowment and as expressed in their customs.
2. The genius or spirit of an institution or a system.
3. The essential characteristics, or ideal attributes, of a work, or period in art or literature, or the type to which the art or period corresponds, as opposed to what is merely emotional, incidental, and transient. Compare PATHOS. [<Gk. ēthos character]