Etymograph

English

animism

Animism comes from Latin anima ‘life", "breath", "soul’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanima1‘life", "breath", "soul’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2015animism1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English animism
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic): “I'm not entirely comfortable with the level of animism…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanimaWiktionary, English animism‘life", "breath", "soul’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2015animismWiktionary, English animism. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic): “I'm not entirely comfortable with the level of animism…”

Formed from anima + -ism

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

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

English anima

The story

Dated sense from German Animismus, coined c. 1720 by physicist/chemist Georg Ernst Stahl (1660-1734) See anima mundi.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin anima ‘life", "breath", "soul’

animal, anime, animate, animator, anima, 6 more

Today it means

noun A belief that spirits inhabit some or all classes of natural objects or phenomena.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “animism”. 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 / Latin anima / animism

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