Latin word root · Mind & Feeling

anim-: mind, spirit, breath

anim- is a Latin root meaning “mind, spirit, breath”. Learn its variants and explore 2 connected words.

Meaning and variants

Meaning: mind, spirit, breath

Root forms: anim-, anima-

Source word: animus — life, life force, soul, vitality (that life-giving aspect which animates a thing)

Word family and examples

• animate

  to bring to life; to give motion to

• animism

  A belief that spirits inhabit some or all classes of natural objects or phenomena.

Root connections help with vocabulary recall. They are not a complete etymological history, and a spelling match alone does not prove a relationship.

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