animus

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noun

Deep-seated hatred, as between longtime opponents or rivals: animosity, antagonism, antipathy, enmity, hostility, ill will. See love/hatred.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

[Latin, Mind, soul, or intention.] A tendency or an inclination toward a definite, sometimes unavoidable, goal; an aim, objective, or purpose.

When animus is used in conjunction with other words of Latin origin, its most common meaning is "the intention of." For example, animus revocandi is the intention of revoking; animus possidendi is the intention of possessing.

Animo, meaning "with intent," may be employed in a manner similar to animus. For example, animo felonico means with felonious intent.

The Greeks lacked our concepts of inertia and frictional loss. For them there had to be an activating animus to initiate and maintain motion. Thus Aristotle supposed that the continuing motion of the projectile was given in puffs of air ('pneuma'), moving from in front and pushing it along from behind. Animals of course, had animus — they were self-motivated. It has been suggested that this conceptual difficulty for the Greeks may have been due to lack of prime movers in their technology. For Aristotle, it was animals' ability to initiate movements that distinguished animals as special, and outside physics. It might be said that how movements are initiated remains the problem of free will.

It was Galileo, in the 17th century, who realized that objects continue moving forever in the absence of friction, which is a basic concept of Newton's cosmology — which is entirely different from the Greek idea and does not require animus.

(Published 2004)

— Richard L. Gregory

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1) basic attitude or governing spirit : disposition, intention
2) a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will
3) an inner masculine part of the female personality in the analytic psychology of C. G. Jung

For a list of words related to animus, see:

• Tools, Techniques, Principles, and Practitioners - animus: in Jungian theory, male aspect of a female’s personality
• Disapproval, Disrespect, and Denial - animus: strong dislike, often prejudiced and hostile; animosity

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See words rhyming with "animus."

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - udtryk for fjendskab, modvilje

Nederlands (Dutch)
drijfveer, vijandige uiting, kwaad bloed, animus (mannelijk deel van vrouwelijke persoonlijkheid)

Français (French)
n. - animosité, (Psych) animus

Deutsch (German)
n. - Geist, Animosität

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σκοπός, φρόνημα, κίνητρο, ελατήριο, (ψυχολ.) άνιμους (κατά Γιουνγκ)

Italiano (Italian)
animosità, intenzione, ispirazione, principio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ânimo (m), ódio (m) violento, animosidade (f), hostilidade (f)

Русский (Russian)
вражда, предубеждение

Español (Spanish)
n. - animosidad, ánimo, intensión

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - sinne, hätsk stämning

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
敌意, 意图, 基本态度

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 敵意, 意圖, 基本態度

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 적의, 의도

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 敵意, 悪意, 憎悪, 意図

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نيه, ميل, عدا‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮עוינות, איבה, טינה‬

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