Spiritual Definition

spĭrĭ-cho͝o-əl

spirituals

adjective

Of the spirit or the soul as distinguished from the body or material matters.

Webster's New World

Of or consisting of spirit; not corporeal.

Webster's New World

Of, from, or concerned with the intellect; intellectual.

Webster's New World

Characterized by the ascendancy of the spirit; showing much refinement of thought and feeling.

Webster's New World

Of religion or the church; sacred, devotional, or ecclesiastical; not lay or temporal.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

Any of a type of American folk hymn; specif., any of such songs originating among S U.S. blacks in the 18th and 19th cent. combining African and European musical elements.

Webster's New World

A religious folk song of African-American origin.

American Heritage

A work composed in imitation of such a song.

American Heritage

Religious or church matters.

Webster's New World

(Christianity, historical) A member of a branch of the Franciscan order who advocated simple dress and renounced the owning of property.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Spiritual

Noun

Singular:

spiritual

Plural:

spirituals

Origin of Spiritual

Middle English from Old French spirituel from Latin spīrituālis of breathing, spiritual from spīritus breath spirit

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