Characteristic attitudes initially encountered by Thomas (5)
I believe the answer is:
ethos
'characteristic attitudes' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ethos that I've seen before include "Typical culture or attitudes" , "The distinctive spirit of a culture or an era" , "Characteristic attitude" , "Characteristic spirit, of a culture say" , "Distinctive spirit - character" .)