ἔθος G1485
custom, habit — an established practice or tradition, especially in religious or communal life
Ethos denotes a settled pattern of behavior that has acquired the force of tradition or convention. In the New Testament its 12 occurrences cluster around religious observance and legal custom — the priestly lot-casting in Luke 1:9, the Passover pilgrimage in Luke 2:42, Jewish burial practice in John 19:40, and the contested customs of Moses in Acts 6:14 and 15:1. The word carries no inherent judgment about whether a custom is good or bad; context supplies that evaluation. The multilingual glosses converge tightly: Spanish 'costumbre,' French 'coutume,' German 'Brauch/Gewohnheit' — all capturing the sense of ingrained social or ritual habit.
Senses
1. custom, habit, established practice — An established practice, tradition, or habitual way of doing things, particularly in religious or legal settings. Covers temple rituals (Luke 1:9, the priestly lot for incense), festival observance (Luke 2:42, annual Passover journey), burial customs (John 19:40), and disputed legal traditions (Acts 6:14, 15:1, 21:21). Spanish 'costumbre' and French 'coutume' both derive from Latin consuetudo, mirroring the Greek ethos in conveying habituated communal behavior. All 12 NT occurrences express this single semantic core without subdivision. 12×
AR["العَادَاتِ", "عاداتٍ", "عاداتِ", "عادَةِ", "عَادَاتِ", "عَادَة", "عَادَةً", "عَادَةٌ", "عَادَةِ", "ـالْعَادَاتِ"]·ben["অভ্যাস", "রীতি", "রীতিতে", "রীতিনীতিতে", "রীতিনীতির"]·DE["Brauch", "Gewohnheit"]·EN["a-custom", "custom", "customs", "habit"]·FR["coutume"]·heb["הַמִּנְהָגִים", "מִנְהַג", "מִנְהָג", "מִנְהָגִים"]·HI["रीति", "रीति-के-अनुसार", "रीतियाँ", "रीतियों", "रीतियों-को", "रीतियों-में", "रीतियोंको"]·ID["adat", "adat-istiadat", "itu", "kebiasaan", "kebiasaan,"]·IT["ethos", "usanza"]·jav["adat", "adat,", "adat-istiadat", "padatan", "pakulinan"]·KO["관례를", "관습-에", "관습-을", "관습-이", "관습들-을", "관습들과", "관습들에", "관습들에-따라", "관습들을", "관습에-따라", "관습이", "습관이-있는"]·PT["costume", "costumes", "costumes,"]·RU["обычаев", "обычаи", "обычай", "обычаю", "обычаям", "обычаями"]·ES["costumbre", "costumbres"]·SW["desturi"]·TR["Yeruşalim", "adet", "gelenek", "geleneklere-göre", "gelenekleri", "geleneği", "geleneğine", "âdet", "âdete", "âdetler", "âdetlerin"]·urd["دستور", "رسموں", "رسومات", "رواج", "ریتوں", "عادت"]
Related Senses
H3212 1. go, depart, travel (884×)H1980 1. to go, travel (Qal) (283×)G4198 1. go, proceed (physical movement) (139×)H1980 2. to walk in conduct (Qal) (132×)G0565 1. go away, depart physically (112×)H3212 2. walk in, follow a way (79×)G5217 1. go, proceed (78×)H1980 3. to walk about, traverse (Hitpael) (63×)H5162 1. comfort, console (Piel) (51×)G4043 1. conduct oneself, live (48×)G4043 2. walk physically (47×)H5162 2. relent, repent, change mind (Nifal) (35×)G3340 1. repent, change one's mind (34×)H1980 4. to walk habitually (Piel) (30×)H4546 1. highway, raised road (25×)H5637 1. be stubborn, rebellious (17×)G0391 1. conduct, way of life, behavior (13×)H3212 4. lead, bring, cause to go (13×)H5162 3. be comforted, receive comfort (Nifal) (10×)G4198 2. walk, conduct oneself (figurative) (8×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἔθος, εος, τό, (ἔθω) custom, habit, ἔ. τὸ πρόσθε τοκήων (but probably falsa lectio for{ἦθος}) Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐν ἔθει τῇ πόλει εἶναι to be the habit, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἔ. ἐστίν τινι, with infinitive, Refs 4th c.BC+; ἔθος ἔχειν, with infinitive, Refs 1st c.AD+; ἔθει by habit, habitually, opposed to φύσει, Refs 4th c.BC+; δι᾽ ἔθος, opposed to ἐκ γενετῆς, Refs; ἐξ ἔθουςRefs 3rd c.AD+-, cf. Latin suesco; see at {βεσόν}.)