ethos

The characteristic spirit, attitudes, and guiding beliefs of a community, era, or movement; in rhetoric, an appeal based on the speaker's credibility and moral character.

• (related: ethics
• ethical— same root but different meaning)

• work ethos
• professional ethos
• national ethos
• ethos of the organisation
• appeal to ethos
• ethos, pathos, logos

1. 1.The startup's ethos — "move fast and break things" — prioritised speed over caution, which worked until the breaking things started hurting real people. (guiding spirit)
2. 2.Aristotle identified three modes of persuasion: ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic) — a framework still taught in rhetoric courses today. (rhetorical appeal)

• spirit/ˈspɪrɪt/— prevailing character
• character/ˈkærɪktər/— distinctive nature
• culture/ˈkʌltʃər/— shared values and practices

from Greek "ethos" (character, custom, habit) — the same root that gives us "ethics" — the character that defines a people