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LATIN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

animus.

mind; intellect; soul; feelings; heart; spirit, courage, character, pride; air;

6 characters3 syllables approx.Latina language

Meaning & usage

noun[ˈa.nɪ.mʊs]Classical-Latin[ˈaː.ni.mus]
  1. life, life force, soul, vitality (that life-giving aspect which animates a thing)

    declension-2 · masculine
    Tibi bene ex animō volō.
    bono animo esse
  2. conscience, intellect, mind, reason, sensibility, understanding (the intellectual dimension of the human mind in general; the seat of the rational and other thoughts a person experiences)

    declension-2 · masculine
    animum adicio
  3. heart, mind, spirit (the affective dimension of the human mind in general; the seat of the emotions and feelings a person experiences)

    declension-2 · masculine
  4. affect, emotion, feeling, impulse, passion (the essence of that which is situated within the affective mind)

    declension-2 · masculine
    movere animum alicuius
  5. certain particular emotional aspects of one's affective makeup: affection; aggression; courage; pride; will (“firmity or fixity of purpose”), determination, firmness, resoluteness, resolve; wrath, anger, ire

    declension-2 · masculine
  6. motive, motivation, reason (any intellectually or emotionally based incentive to act in a particular manner)

    declension-2 · masculine
  7. aim, aspiration, design, idea, intent, intention, plan, purpose, resolution (that which exists in the mind as a formulation, and causes a subject to act or to behave in a particular manner)

    declension-2 · masculine
  8. disposition, inclination, nature, temperament (the inherent emotional disposition of a human being, by extension of the affective dimension)

    declension-2 · masculine · metonymically
  9. affect, mood, temper (the instant mental state of a human being)

    declension-2 · masculine
  10. beloved. dearest, heart, soul (as a term of endearment)

    colloquial · declension-2 · masculine · metonymically
  11. bravado, elation, high spirits

    declension-2 · in-plural · masculine
    adicere/facere animos alicui
Where this word comes from

From Proto-Italic *anamos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos, a nominal derivative of Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- + *-mos, in which the root means "to breathe". Cognate with Ancient Greek ἄνεμος (ánemos, “wind, breeze”), Old Armenian հողմ (hołm, “wind”), Old Frisian omma (“breath”), English onde (“breath”, dialectal), Norwegian Nynorsk ande (“breath”), Danish ånde (“breath”), and possibly Sanskrit अनिल (ánila, “air, wind”); compare also Tocharian B āñme (“self; soul”) and Old Armenian անձն (anjn, “person”).

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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.