Distinctive spirit (5)
I believe the answer is:
ethos
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">distinctive spirit</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this before)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for ethos that I've seen before include "Cultural spirit" , "Characteristic attitudes" , "Characteristic spirit (of, eg, a culture)" , "Moral significance" , "General feeling" .)