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spirit world

spirit world

19 7.9
A place where spirits like ghosts, angels, or ancestors live
  • noun
  • /ˈspɪrɪt wɜrld/
  • Literature
translation icon : mundo espiritual
  • In some traditions, shamans are said to travel to the spirit world to communicate with otherworldly beings.
  • communicating with the spirit world
  • people of the spirit world

I died and went to the spirit world with my wife.

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Examples

  • Senufo women are considered particularly adept at communicating with the spirit world.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The older I get, the more connected I feel to the spirit world.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • I died and went to the spirit world with my wife.

  • This is all about the spirit world here.

  • We have to help her get back to the spirit world.

  • What do you think exists in the spirit world that could be found by taking that journey?

  • In order to come close to the spirit world, a person must be alone and removed from ordinary events.

    Academic text (1996)
  • When he told his tale, all knew he had traveled into the spirit world.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • She's a medium who can make contact with the spirit world.

  • Within Igbo religious cosmology, white has symbolic significance, associated with the purity of the spirit world.

    Academic text (2003)

Synonyms

netherworld
vsspirit world
  • Literature
10 8.8

A dark world below the earth where the dead live

is a broader realm for many spiritual beings not limited to the dead
spiritual world
vsspirit world
3 6.9

A place beyond the life we can see and touch where gods and unseen beings live

is the general belief in a place where many spiritual beings exist
otherworld
vsspirit world
  • Literature
2 9.9

A place beyond the living world where spirits live

is specifically imagined as the place where spiritual beings live

Surface Forms

spirit world singular
spirit worlds plural

Morphology

spirit + world

The meaning 'a realm where spiritual beings exist' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'spirit' (incorporeal being) with 'world' (a realm or sphere). This noun+noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g. 'mundo de espíritus', 'monde des esprits') and would be readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

The phrase spirit world comes from the simple image of a separate world where spirits or souls live unseen outside our everyday life. So today spirit world means 'a place where spiritual beings or ghosts exist'.