the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its attitudes and aspirations 一个文化(时代或社会)的精神特质;民族精神;时代精神;社会风气 a challenge to the ethos of the 1960s. 对20世纪60年代时代精神的挑战。
语源
mid 19th cent.: from modern Latin, from Greek ēthos 'nature, disposition', (plural) 'customs'