Honor

The definition of honor varied widely between cultures, as did the importance placed upon it. Honor was normally synonymous with dignity and referred to the upholding of one's values. The Klingons were notorious for the emphasis they place on honor.

This may have been a more abstract way of viewing honor. But, as notions of honor were often very subjective, putting emphasis on clear objects (i.e. victory) made the Klingon able to deduce the honorable conduct (i.e. meanings used to achieve victory).

The Tosk had a high believe in their honor, preventing them from breaking their oath of silence and accept a possibility such as political asylum.

Klingon honor

Honor was one of the most important components of Klingon philosophy. However, it was significantly different from most other cultures' definition of the word.

For example, Worf once said that "Nothing is more honorable than victory".

From this point of view, using a cloaked ship to ambush enemies could be considered honorable if it achieved victory.

The notion of honor seemed to be highly relative and open to debate. Each and every Klingon could possibly have his own interpretation of what consisted of an honorable means to achieve an end. Even more, some decisions were paradoxical because two different view of honor were in contradiction. For instance, Worf indicated that it was necessary to challenge Gowron's leadership (for he's presumably acting in a dishonorable way) while General Martok was convinced that it was dishonorable to challenge the leader of the Klingon Empire in the middle of a war. In another case, while Dr. Antaak's deception in claiming to have stabilized Augment DNA, allowing the creation of Klingon Augments, when he and Phlox had merely cured the Klingon augment virus might be seen by some as dishonorable, Antaak himself believed that, given the millions of lives this cure would save, his near-certain execution if caught would as honorable a death as a doctor could have.

Hence, dishonor is sometimes a concept which compels Klingons to action.

Also, another important component of Klingon honor seemed to be simplicity.

For example, it's seen as more honorable to destroy a ship than to conquer a planet, to kill an adversary with a bat'leth rather than with a disruptor, etc.

This, however, does not address the difference between 'honor' and 'honorable'. Honor is a code of conduct of an individual Klingon, and honorable is the action that can be taken to achieve the honor that accrues to the individual; so each action and achievement is based upon the individual.