animal English · revision 2985

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1330, Sir Orfeo|origins=ine-pro *ane-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæn.ɪ.mᵊl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|animal|t=living being, being that breathes]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps partly through Old French,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) the noun use of the neuter of [[m|la|animālis|t=animate, living, having the breath of life]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|anima|t=breath, soul, life]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to [[m|la|animus|t=mind, spirit]] and to Greek ánemos “wind”,^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*ane-|t=to breathe]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Animals are so called simply because they breathe.^(Cresswell 2021) The adjective came through Old French from Latin animālis.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Any sentient living creature, including humans: about 1330, in ''Sir Orfeo'',^(Barnhart 1988) the early 14th century in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and 1398 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a rare word in English before about 1600 and is not in the King James Bible (1611),^(Etymonline) where the older word [[beast]] was used.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) The common sense, a non-human creature, a brute as opposed to a person, is from 1600,^(OED 1989) and it gradually pushed ''beast'' out of common use.^(Etymonline) Used scornfully of brutish people it is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The adjective meant “pertaining to the merely sentient part of man” in the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) “of or from beasts” by the 1630s,^(Etymonline) and “of the animal kingdom” from the 1640s.^(Etymonline) ''Animal magnetism'' (1784) first meant mesmerism,^(Etymonline) ''animal rights'' is from 1879, and ''animal liberation'' from 1973.^(Etymonline) ''No such animal'', of a person or thing, is colloquial from 1922.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1330 – a living creature.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – adjective, of the senses.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – a brutish person.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1600 – a beast, as opposed to a human.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1784 – ''animal magnetism''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1879 – ''animal rights''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1973 – ''animal liberation''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A living [[organism]] that can usually move, feeds on other organisms and responds quickly to stimuli, as opposed to a [[plant]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Any such creature other than a human being; a beast.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A [[brutish]] or [[coarse]] person.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(informal)'' A kind of person or thing: ''a political animal''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or from animals.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of the physical rather than the spiritual nature of people.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[animallike]]

+ * [[animally]]

+ * [[animalize]]

+ * [[nonanimal]]

+ * [[semianimal]]

+ * [[superanimal]]

+ * [[animal pole]]

+ * [[animal spirits]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[anima]]

+ * [[animalcule]]

+ * [[Animalia]]

+ * [[animalier]]

+ * [[animate]]

+ * [[animus]]

+ * [[animosity]]

+ * [[unanimous]]

+ * [[beast]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}