spiritus
- noun
- /ˈspɪrɪtəs/
- Archaic
:
espíritu
- Spirit comes from the Latin word spiritus which means breath and also the essence of something.
Examples
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The Latin word spiritus refers to both breath and the concept of spirit in scholarly texts.
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"Hearkening back to Roman civilization, the word spirituality originates from the Latin spiritus: breath... The spirit, like breathing, keeps a person alive" (Freeman, 2002, p. 2).
Academic text (2015) -
Could the underpinnings of both be an expression of the spiritus mundi that something is not quite right with the global economic infrastructure?
Blog text (17) -
It comes out of what he calls spiritus mundi, OK, semi technical term.
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The words spirit and spiritual come from the Latin spiritus and are related to the Greek pneuma, the Sanskrit prana, and the Hebrew ruach.
Academic text (1994) -
Still circulating in Poussin's age were occult philosophies describing the use of images and music to channel stellar harmonies and spiritus mundi into the viewer for a curative effect.
Academic text (2004) -
In ancient Rome, the term spiritus was often associated with the essence of life and vitality.
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The philosopher explained that spiritus encompasses not just breath but also the animating force within all living things.
Synonyms
Surface Forms
Etymology
Spiritus comes from the Latin verb spirare, which means 'to breathe', and is the same root as the English words spirit and inspire. So spiritus in old texts can mean both 'breath' and 'spirit', like the life or energy in a person.