Etymograph

English

anima

Anima comes from Latin anima ‘a current of air, wind, air, breath, the vital…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enh₁-1‘to breathe’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanima1‘a current of air, wind, air, breath, the vital principle, life, soul’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1665anima1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English anima
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia: “[W]e cannot chuse but admire the exceeding vividness of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enh₁-Wiktionary, English anima‘to breathe’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanimaWiktionary, English anima‘a current of air, wind, air, breath, the vital principle, life, soul’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1665animaWiktionary, English anima. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia: “[W]e cannot chuse but admire the exceeding vividness of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- ‘to breathe’

and, asthma, inhale, unanimously, unanimous, animosity, exhalation, anemone, onde, prana, animus, 20 more

through Latin anima ‘a current of air, wind, air, breath, the vital…’

anime, animism, 9 more

Today it means

noun The soul or animating principle of a living thing, especially as contrasted with the animus.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “anima”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- / anima

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