Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “moral” come from?

Moral comes from Middle English moral, from Old French moral, from Latin morālis, from the Latin suffix -ālis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mē-.

moral (English): Of or relating to principles of right and wrong...

Definitions

  1. Of or relating to principles of right and wrong...

Ancestry of “moral”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishmoralmoral; morals, standard; morale
2Spanishmoraa mulberry, a mulberry fruit; default; mora
3Vulgar Latinmoradelay, or any duration of time; hindrance
4Latinmōrum—
5Ancient Greekμόρονblack mulberry; blackberry
6Proto-Indo-Europeanmórommulberry, blackberry

Words derived from “moral”

  • morally
  • morals
  • immoral
  • moralist
  • moralistic
  • amoral
  • nonmoral
  • unmoral
  • moralization
  • immorally
  • immoralist
  • sociomoral
  • amoralism
  • immoralism
  • premoral
  • moralistically
  • amoralist
  • amorally
  • extramoral
  • antimoral
  • nonmoralistic
  • moralless
  • antimoralistic
  • postmoral
Every word from Proto-Indo-European mórom →