overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

animate.

That lives.

7 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈæn.ɪ.mət/UK/ˈæn.ə.mət/US
  1. That lives.

  2. That has (or is believed to have) a spirit (anima) and/or some amount of consciousness and sentience, either being alive or supernaturally seeming alive.

  3. Possessing the quality or ability of motion.

  4. Dynamic, energetic.

    She is an engaging and animate speaker.
  5. having a referent that is considered alive (this generally includes humans, animals and deities, sometimes also plants, spirits, etc.)

    Nouns can be singular or plural, and one of two genders, animate or inanimate.
  6. Inflected to agree with an animate noun or pronoun.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English animat(e), from Latin animātus, perfect passive participle of animō (“to fill with breath, quicken, encourage, animate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from anima (“soul, spirit, breath”); see anima. The verb derives from the adjective, see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

verb/ˈæn.ɪ.meɪt/UK/ˈæn.ə.meɪt/US
  1. To impart motion or the appearance of motion to.

    transitive
    leaves animated by a stiff breeze
    If we animate the model, we can see the complexity of the action.
  2. To give spirit or vigour to; to stimulate or enliven; to inspirit.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English animat(e), from Latin animātus, perfect passive participle of animō (“to fill with breath, quicken, encourage, animate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from anima (“soul, spirit, breath”); see anima. The verb derives from the adjective, see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

animate has 7 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

animate studioanimate workshello, animate

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.