The adjective moral (with the accent on the first syllable) means "ethical" or "virtuous." As a noun moral refers to the lesson or principle taught by a story or event. The noun morale (second syllable accented) means "spirit" or "attitude."
Examples:
- "Will springs from the two elements of moral sense and self interest." (Abraham Lincoln)
- " Morale is the greatest single factor in successful wars." (Dwight Eisenhower)
Usage Notes:
"We have on hand a good number of handbooks and schoolbooks that try to distinguish these words on the most simplistic of lines. However, if you look up these two nouns in a good dictionary, you will see that they are intimately intertwined. The chief problem seems to be the sense 'espirit de corps.' In present-day English morale is the usual spelling for this sense; moral is likely to be considered a misspelling. But it is not; the OED shows that moral was the original spelling for this sense. It was the spelling in French, and the sense was taken over from the French. And current dictionaries, such as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, still recognizes this sense as one of the meanings of moral.
"We recommend, however, that you use morale for the 'espirit de corps' sense--most people do. Few, if any, use morale instead of moral for the lesson in a story."
(Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage, 2002)
Practice:
(a) "A nation as a society forms a _____ person." (Thomas Jefferson)
(b) _____ is self-esteem in action.
