Etymologically
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spiritus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈspiː.rɪ.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈspiː.ri.tus][1]

Forms

spīritus m (genitive spīritūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin spīrō (“to breathe”) + -tus.[2][1][3] The verb is Proto-Italic *spīr/s-, possibly an imitation of the sound of breathing, with no direct cognates.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[3][4] whose battle scene has a mist rising “from the breath and panting” of the men.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant breathing, a single breath, and the breath itself, as in Plautus, Ennius and Cicero, and breath as the sign of life, so that to give up one's spiritus was to die.[2] From this it meant the soul or spirit, divine inspiration, as Cicero's poet “filled as it were with a divine breath”, and a person's disposition, especially pride or high spirits.[2][1]

It meant air in motion, a wind or breeze, as Ennius' storm, air as an element, and an exhalation or scent, as Lucretius' perfume.[2] In Christian Latin it was the Holy Spirit, Spiritus Sanctus, and a spirit or ghost.[1][5] English spirit came from it partly through Old French in the mid-13th century.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of men's breath.[2][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of breathing and of the wind.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of divine inspiration.[2][4]
  • mid-13th century – English spirit is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Breathing, a breath.[2][1]
  2. Breath (of life); life.[2][1]
  3. The soul, spirit.[2][1]
  4. Divine inspiration.[2]
  5. Essential quality, nature.[2]
  6. Disposition; spirit, courage; pride, arrogance.[2][1]
  7. Air in motion, a breeze.[2][1]
  8. Air (as an element).[2]
  9. An exhalation, scent.[2]
  10. (Christian Latin) The Holy Spirit; a spirit, ghost.[1][5]

Word family

  • spīritālis
  • spīrituālis
  • spīrābilis
  • spīrāculum
  • spīrāmen
  • spīrāmentum
  • spīrātiō
  • spīrātus
  • spīritālitās
  • spīritāliter
  • spīrituālitās
  • spīrō
  • English spirit

Usage notes

Döderlein says aura and spiritus are air in motion, while anima and aer are air as an element.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper