anima

American  

[an-uh-muh] / ˈæn ə mə /

noun

1. soul; life.

2. (in the psychology of C. G. Jung)

   1. the inner personality that is turned toward the unconscious of the individual (persona ).

   2. the feminine principle, especially as present in men.

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anima British  

/ ˈænɪmə /

noun

1. 1. the feminine principle as present in the male unconscious

   2. the inner personality, which is in communication with the unconscious See also animus

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Etymology

Origin of anima

1920–25; < Latin: breath, vital force, soul, spirit

Compare meaning

How does anima compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• anima vs. animus

Example Sentences

I mean that she endows objects and animals with anima, the breath of life.

From New York Times

Introduced was a careful sentence to bring della Porta’s discussion of the soul in line with Christian teaching, and all references to the world soul, the anima mundi, were now carefully turned into quotations.

From Literature

They each knew they had found their anima gemella, Italian for soul mate, on their first date at Parallutti e Vino, an Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side in New York.

From New York Times

Williams said he was “talking about what Carl Jung talked about, the anima-animus: the anima being the female counterpart of the male self, animus.”

From New York Times

And anima means that is the female counterpart of the male self, and the animus is the male counterpart of the female.

From Fox News