morals v. ethics

Morals and ethics have very similar meanings. They are sometimes distinguished in the following ways:

• Morals are personal principles of behaviour used to differentiate between right and wrong. Ethics is a code of conduct applied to a group. Ethics may be social, professional, or religious. For instance, an attorney defending a murderer may be forced to act in a way that is professionally ethical but personally immoral.
• Morals concern what is decent; ethics concerns what is fair.
• Morals are inherent individual beliefs about good and bad. Ethics is the philosophical study of morality.

 wiseGEEK on morals v. ethics