the.com/ethos

means The characteristic spirit, values, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or culture — the underlying character that shapes how they act.

from From Greek ēthos, meaning 'character' or 'custom' — originally the sense of an accustomed place or habitual haunt, which widened to mean the settled disposition or moral character of a person. Aristotle made it one of his three pillars of persuasion, alongside logos (logic) and pathos (emotion): ethos was the speaker's credibility, the character that made an audience willing to listen. The same root gives us 'ethic' and 'ethical.'