English Explanatory Dictionary

animism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A belief that spirits inhabit some or all classes of natural objects or phenomena.
  2. A belief that an immaterial force animates the universe.
  3. A doctrine that animal life is produced by an immaterial spirit.

Pronunciation

/ˈænɪmɪzəm/

Word forms

animism animisms

Etymology

From anima + -ism, from Latin anima (“life", "breath", "soul”). Dated sense from German Animismus, coined c. 1720 by physicist/chemist Georg Ernst Stahl (1660-1734) See anima mundi.

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