n.
- The vital principle or animating force within living beings.
- Incorporeal consciousness.
- The soul, considered as departing from the body of a person at death.
- Spirit The Holy Spirit.
- A supernatural being, as:
- An angel or a demon.
- A being inhabiting or embodying a particular place, object, or natural phenomenon.
- A fairy or sprite.
- The part of a human associated with the mind, will, and feelings: Though unable to join us today, they are with us in spirit.
- The essential nature of a person or group.
- A person as characterized by a stated quality: He is a proud spirit.
- An inclination or tendency of a specified kind: Her actions show a generous spirit.
- A causative, activating, or essential principle: The couple's engagement was announced in a joyous spirit.
- spirits A mood or an emotional state: The guests were in high spirits. His sour spirits put a damper on the gathering.
- A particular mood or an emotional state characterized by vigor and animation: sang with spirit.
- Strong loyalty or dedication: team spirit.
- The predominant mood of an occasion or a period: "The spirit of 1776 is not dead" (Thomas Jefferson).
- The actual though unstated sense or significance of something: the spirit of the law.
- An alcohol solution of an essential or volatile substance. Often used in the plural with a singular verb.
- spirits An alcoholic beverage, especially distilled liquor.
- To carry off mysteriously or secretly: The documents had been spirited away.
- To impart courage, animation, or determination to; inspirit.
[Middle English, from Old French espirit, from Latin spīritus, breath, from spīrāre, to breathe.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
