Meanings
nounanimacy (usually uncountable, plural animacies)
plural animacies
- uncountableusuallyThe state of being animate (alive or supernaturally seeming alive).
These may differ radically in their linguistic animacy, as briefly discussed above, without this having any consequences for their biological animacy.
2011, Seppo Kittilä, Katja Västi, Jussi Ylikoski, Case, Animacy and Semantic Roles, page 6Synonyms: animateness, animation · Antonyms: inanimacy
- uncountableusuallyhuman sciencesIn some languages, the characteristic of a noun, dependent on its living or sentient nature, which affects grammatical features (it can modify verbs used with the noun, affect the noun's declension, etc.).
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe state of being animate (alive or supernaturally seeming alive).
Similar
Opposite
Also see
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂enh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂enh₁mos
- Proto-Italic*anamos
- Latinanimus
- Latinanima
- Latinanimō
- Latinanimātus
- Middle Englishanimat(e)
- Englishanimate
- Englishanimacy
Translations
Bulgarian одушеве́ност
- одушеве́ност (oduševénost)quality of being animate
Chinese 有生性, 生命度
- 有生性quality of being animate
- 生命度quality of being animate
Czech životnost
- životnostquality of being animate
Finnish elollisuus
- elollisuusquality of being animate
French animéité, animacité
- animéitéquality of being animate
- animacitéquality of being animate
German Belebtheit
- Belebtheitquality of being animate
Korean 생명력
- 생명력 (saengmyeongnyeok)quality of being animate
Portuguese animacidade
- animacidadequality of being animate
Russian одушевлённость
- одушевлённость (oduševljónnostʹ)quality of being animate
Swedish animathet
- animathetquality of being animate
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
animacy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/animacy
MLA
“animacy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/animacy. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “animacy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/animacy.
Source: animacy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.