See Also: morality(dictionary)
morality(dictionary)
morality play(encyclopedia)

morality (iou)



morality noun. LME.
[(Old & mod. French moralite from) late Latin moralitas, from Latin moralis: see MORAL adjective, -ITY.]
Ethical wisdom; knowledge of moral science. Only in LME.
In pl. Moral qualities or endowments. Now rare. LME.
a. Moral discourse or instruction, moralizing; a moral lesson or exhortation. LME.
b. Moral sense or interpretation; the moral of a story, event, etc. LME-E17.
a. A literary work or artistic representation inculcating a moral lesson; a moralizing commentary; a moral allegory. LME-M17.
b. A drama of a kind (popular in the 16th cent.) intended to inculcate a moral or spiritual lesson, the chief characters being personifications of abstract qualities. L18.
Hugh Walpole The actors seemed like figures in a Morality.
a. The doctrine or branch of knowledge that deals with right and wrong conduct and with duty and responsibility; moral philosophy, ethics. LME.
Swift The learning of this people..consisting only in morality, history, poetry, and mathematics.
b. In pl. Points of ethics, moral principles or rules. E17.
F. Norris The trite moralities and ready-made aphorisms of the philanthropists.
c. A particular system of moral philosophy or moral conduct. L17.
E. A. Freeman The morality of the Gospel had a direct influence upon the politics of the age. C. Achebe He has no sense of political morality. J. Glover In our society..morality derived from religious commands and prohibitions is declining, but still powerful.
The quality or fact of being moral; the degree of conformity of an idea, practice, etc., to moral law; moral goodness or rightness. L16.
J. S. Mill The morality of an action depends on its foreseeable consequences. J. M. McPherson Opponents also questioned the expediency, morality, even the theology of the legal tender bill.
Moral conduct; esp. good moral conduct; behaviour conforming to moral law; moral virtue. L16.
M. Stott Concern for one's fellows seems to me the essence of morality.
Comb.: morality play = sense 4b above; morality squad Canad. a police unit dealing with infractions of legislation concerning prostitution, pornography, etc.