English
animate
Animate comes from Middle English animate ‘Animate, alive’, from Latin anima ‘air, breath’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enh₁-1‘to breathe’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enh₁mos1‘breath’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*anamos1‘breath’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanimus1‘life, life force, soul, vitality’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanima1‘air, breath’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanimō2‘to fill with breath, quicken, encourage, animate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanimātus2perfect passive participle of animō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500animate2‘Animate, alive’
- Englishearliest quotation 1603animate2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin animo
- 2 Wiktionary, English animate
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes: “The more to animate the people, he stood on…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enh₁-Wiktionary, Latin animo‘to breathe’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enh₁mosWiktionary, Latin animo‘breath’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*anamosWiktionary, Latin animo‘breath’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanimusWiktionary, Latin animo‘life, life force, soul, vitality’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanimaWiktionary, Latin animo‘air, breath’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanimōWiktionary, English animate‘to fill with breath, quicken, encourage, animate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanimātusWiktionary, English animateperfect passive participle of animō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500animateWiktionary, English animate‘Animate, alive’
- Englishearliest quotation 1603animateWiktionary, English animate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes: “The more to animate the people, he stood on…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- ‘to breathe’
and, asthma, inhale, exhalation, prana, onde, 20 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos ‘breath’
through Latin animus ‘life, life force, soul, vitality’
unanimously, unanimous, animosity, animus, 12 more
through Latin anima ‘air, breath’
through Latin animō ‘to fill with breath, quicken, encourage, animate’
Today it means
adj That lives.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “animate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin animo. 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- / animate