Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The accepted traditional customs and usages of a particular social group.
- n. Moral attitudes.
- n. Manners; ways.
Wiktionary
- n. A set of moral norms or customs derived from generally accepted practices. Mores derive from the established practices of a society rather than its written laws.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Customs; habits; esp., moral customs conformity to which is more or less obligatory; customary law.
WordNet 3.0
- n. (sociology) the conventions that embody the fundamental values of a group
Etymologies
- Latin mōrēs, pl. of mōs, custom; see mē-1 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Romans used generally, for this idea, the term mores, and hence Cicero and”
“Yet Selig, after doling out World Series rings to the Chicago White Sox Tuesday, said: It's important for somebody who understands what I call the mores of culture of this sport as well as he does.”
“I am going to read you a little passage which I think you may value because it puts the whole thing in a nutshell; but before I read it I would just say that Bernard Shaw always uses the words "moral" and "immoral" in the classic sense (the Latin word mores meaning customs if I remember right) instead of in the limited vulgar sense, by which we mean that a moral man is merely a man who does not run off with somebody else's wife, and an immoral man is a man who does.”
“Dionisio said the event, which includes a hayride and fires to make s'mores, is the group's biggest fundraiser.”
The Washington Post: Dueling 'Field of Screams' Halloween venues pit Md. nonprofit against Pa. group
“Michael's ignorance of social mores is the essence of the show.”
“Later philosophers, examining the principles of republicanism, argued that this sort of constraint by mores is desirable, because it holds behaviour in check more effectively.”
“If a strong master/apprentice tradition exists, for example, where you're expected to gain a master's consent to teach you, and to "recompense" them with a period of submission to their teachings, if that's what "paying your dues" entails, then disrespecting those mores is disrespecting those sources/influences/teachers by refusing to pay the expected entry fee.”
“But my Church, using our institution's religious mores, is happy to perform a "marriage" ceremony for two people of the same gender.”
Sound Politics: New Jersey Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage rights
“This definitely mitigates the dictatorial quality that I find most ... expediently wrong-headed in the conflation of morality with ethics, that reassuring conviction that an ethos, like mores, is a set of constraints imposed on the individual (with the ethos simply being the constraints imposed by the individual on themself).”
“The importance of mores is a universal trust to which study and experience continually bring us back.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mores’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
reesetee Haha! Dec 16, 2008
pterodactyl *adopts faux-Italian accent, squeezes accordion*
When societies say you should act just one way,
That's a-more!
Dec 15, 2008
Prolagus seanahan: the mores, the betters. Dec 14, 2008
Prolagus (My) pronunciation. Dec 14, 2008
seanahan That pronunciation leads me to believe there are two syllables in this word, and I've only ever used one. Dec 14, 2008
aequoria Mores (pronounced 'maw-rayz') are norms or customs.
Mores derive from the established practices of a society rather than its written laws. They consist of shared understandings about the kinds of behaviour likely to evoke approval, disapproval, toleration or sanction, within particular contexts.
~Wikipedia Dec 7, 2008