animism
English
noun
Definitions
- A belief that spirits inhabit some or all classes of natural objects or phenomena.
- A belief that an immaterial force animates the universe.
- (dated) A doctrine that animal life is produced by an immaterial spirit.
Etymology
Suffix from English anima derived from Latin anima (soul, breath, life, air, spirit, the vital principle, a current of air, breeze, wind) borrowed from German Animismus.
Origin
German (Berlin)
Animismus
Gloss
Timeline
Distribution of cognates by language
Geogrpahic distribution of cognates
Cognates and derived terms
- anima English
- animismi Finnish
- *alima Latin
- anima Latin
- animalis Latin
- animicida Latin
- animo Latin
- animula Latin
- Animismus German
- animizmus Hungarian
- alma Italian
- anima Italian
- alma Spanish, Castilian
- ánima Spanish, Castilian
- *h₂enh₁- Proto-Indo-European
- anima Portuguese
- ame Old French
- ànima Catalan, Valencian
- alma Galician
- ánima Galician
- inimă Romanian, Moldavian, Moldovan
- ainimm Old Irish
- ainimm, ainim Old Irish
- alma Old Portuguese
- *anaman Proto-Celtic
- inimã Aromanian
- *anamos Proto-Italic
- olma Romansh
- alma Asturian
- anime Friulian
- ànime Friulian
- ànema Venetian
- arima Basque
- jamna Dalmatian
- alma Ladino
- ànima Sardinian
- anema Istriot
- alma Mirandese