Spirit Definition

spĭrĭt

spirited, spirits

noun

spirits

Life, will, consciousness, thought, etc., regarded as separate from matter.

Webster's New World

A supernatural being.

Webster's New World

An individual person or personality thought of as showing or having some specific quality.

The brave spirits who pioneered.

Webster's New World

The actual though unstated sense or significance of something.

The spirit of the law.

American Heritage

The thinking, motivating, feeling part of a person, often as distinguished from the body; mind; intelligence.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
being
reality
body

verb

To carry (away, off, etc.) secretly and swiftly, or in some mysterious way.

Webster's New World

To inspirit, animate, encourage, cheer, etc.

Webster's New World

To carry off, especially in haste, secrecy, or mystery.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

adjective

Operating by the burning of alcohol.

A spirit lamp.

Webster's New World

Of spirits or spiritualism.

Webster's New World

Believed to be manifested by spirits.

Spirit rapping.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

pronoun

The Holy Spirit: in Christian theology, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the three aspects of God.

Wiktionary

The name given to a Mars exploration rover launched June 10, 2003. See Wikipedia's article.

Wiktionary

idiom

in spirit

furnishing inspiration or moral support, but otherwise not physically present
he could not attend, but he's here with us in spirit

Webster's New World

out of spirits

sad; depressed

Webster's New World

the Spirit

Holy Spirit

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Spirit

Noun

Singular:

spirit

Plural:

spirits

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Spirit

Origin of Spirit

From Middle English spirit, from Old French espirit (“spirit"), from Latin spÄ«ritus (“breath; spirit"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow, breathe"). Compare inspire, respire, transpire, all ultimately from Latin spÄ«rō (“I breathe, blow, respire"). Cognate with Old English fisting (“(silent) breaking of wind"). Displaced native Middle English gast (“spirit") (from Old English gāst (“breath, soul, spirit")). More at fist.

From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old French espirit from Latin spīritus breath from spīrāre to breathe

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition