animism

A1N1I1M3I1S1M3
/ˈænɪmɪzəm/

noun

A belief that spirits inhabit some or all classes of natural objects or phenomena.

OriginLatin anima ← German Animismus →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Word of the Day · Sep 20, 2026

Meanings

nounanimism (countable and uncountable, plural animisms)

plural animisms

  1. countableuncountableA belief that spirits inhabit some or all classes of natural objects or phenomena.

    "I'm not entirely comfortable with the level of animism you and Hanners display towards that thing."

    2015, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic), Number 3126: Been A While I Guess
  2. countableuncountableA belief that an immaterial force animates the universe.
  3. countabledateduncountableA doctrine that animal life is produced by an immaterial spirit.

Origin

  1. GermanAnimismus
  2. Latinanima“life", "breath", "soul”
  3. Englishanimism

From anima + -ism, from Latin anima (“life", "breath", "soul”). Dated sense from German Animismus, coined c. 1720 by physicist/chemist Georg Ernst Stahl (1660-1734) See anima mundi.

More words from Latin, German

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans animisme
  • animismebelief in spirits
Arabic أرواحية
  • أرواحيةbelief in spirits
Catalan animisme
  • animismebelief in spirits
Chinese Cantonese 泛靈論 /泛灵论, 泛靈信仰 /泛灵信仰
  • 泛靈論 /泛灵论 (faan⁶ ling⁴ leon⁶)belief in spirits
  • 泛靈信仰 /泛灵信仰 (faan⁶ ling⁴ seon³ joeng⁵)belief in spirits
  • 萬物有靈論 /万物有灵论 (maan⁶ mat⁶ jau⁵ ling⁴ leon⁶)belief in spirits
Chinese Mandarin 泛靈論 /泛灵论, 泛靈信仰 /泛灵信仰
  • 泛靈論 /泛灵论 (fànlínglùn)belief in spirits
  • 泛靈信仰 /泛灵信仰 (fànlíng xìnyǎng)belief in spirits
  • 萬物有靈論 /万物有灵论 (wànwù-yǒulínglùn)belief in spirits
Finnish animismi
  • animismibelief in spirits
French animisme
  • animismebelief in spirits
German Animismus
  • Animismusbelief in spirits
Greek ανιμισμός
  • ανιμισμός (animismós)belief in spirits
Hindi जीववाद
  • जीववाद (jīvvād)belief in spirits
Indonesian animisme
  • animismebelief in spirits
Irish anamachas
  • anamachasbelief in spirits
Japanese アニミズム, 汎霊説
  • アニミズム (animizumu)belief in spirits
  • 汎霊説 (hanrei setsu)belief in spirits
  • 精霊信仰 (seirei shinkō)belief in spirits
  • 地霊信仰 (chirei shinkō)belief in spirits
Korean 정령숭배, 정령신앙
  • 정령숭배 (jeongnyeongsungbae)belief in spirits
  • 정령신앙 (jeongnyeongsinang)belief in spirits
Polish animizm
  • animizmbelief in spirits
Portuguese animismo
  • animismobelief in spirits
Romanian animism
  • animismbelief in spirits
Russian аними́зм
  • аними́зм (animízm)belief in spirits
Swedish animism
  • animismbelief in spirits
Turkish canlıcılık
  • canlıcılıkbelief in spirits

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Misiman
Cite this entry
APA

animism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/animism

MLA

“animism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/animism. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “animism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/animism.

Source: animism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.