Etymology

spiritus rector

Today it means: A ruling or guiding spirit. Full definition →

Latin spīritus rector
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromspīritus rector
  2. English todayspiritus rector

Unadapted borrowing from Latin spīritus rector (literally “guiding spirit”), an alchemical term. First attested in 1729 in the writings of E. Strother.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.