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spirit

[spir-it]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spirit ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

adjective

pertaining to something that works by burning alcoholic spirits: a spirit stove.
of or relating to spiritualist bodies or activities.

verb (used with object)

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RELATED WORDS

capture, hijack, snatch, steal, seize, confiscate, commandeer, force, arrest, apprehend, annex, occupy, ambush, take, catch, kidnap, grab, overrun, impound, pull

Idioms

    out of spirits, in low spirits; depressed: We were feeling out of spirits after so many days of rain.

Origin of spirit

1200–50; Middle English (noun) < Latin spīritus orig., a breathing, equivalent to spīri-, combining form representing spīrāre to breathe + -tus suffix of v. action
Related formsspir·it·like, adjectivenon·spir·it, nounout·spir·it, verb (used with object)un·spir·it·ing, adjective
Can be confusedspirit sprite

Synonyms for spirit

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spirit ON THESAURUS.COM
2. life, mind, consciousness, essence. 5. apparition, phantom, shade. See ghost. 6. goblin, hobgoblin. 7. genius. 14. enthusiasm, energy, zeal, ardor, fire, enterprise. 15. attitude, mood, humor. 17. nature, drift, tenor, gist, essence, sense, complexion. 19. intention, significance, purport.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for spirit away

Spirit

noun the Spirit

  1. another name for the Holy Spirit
  2. God, esp when regarded as transcending material limitations
the influence of God or divine things upon the soul
Christian Science God or divine substance

spirit

1

noun

the force or principle of life that animates the body of living things
temperament or dispositiontruculent in spirit
liveliness; mettlethey set to it with spirit
the fundamental, emotional, and activating principle of a person; willthe experience broke his spirit
a sense of loyalty or dedicationteam spirit
the prevailing element; feelinga spirit of joy pervaded the atmosphere
state of mind or mood; attitudehe did it in the wrong spirit
(plural) an emotional state, esp with regard to exaltation or dejectionin high spirits
a person characterized by some activity, quality, or dispositiona leading spirit of the movement
the deeper more significant meaning as opposed to a pedantic interpretationthe spirit of the law
that which constitutes a person's intangible being as contrasted with his physical presenceI shall be with you in spirit
  1. an incorporeal being, esp the soul of a dead person
  2. (as modifier)spirit world

verb (tr)

(usually foll by away or off) to carry off mysteriously or secretly
(often foll by up) to impart animation or determination to

Word Origin for spirit

C13: from Old French esperit, from Latin spīritus breath, spirit; related to spīrāre to breathe

spirit

2

noun

(often plural) any distilled alcoholic liquor such as brandy, rum, whisky, or gin
chem
  1. an aqueous solution of ethanol, esp one obtained by distillation
  2. the active principle or essence of a substance, extracted as a liquid, esp by distillation
pharmacol
  1. a solution of a volatile substance, esp a volatile oil, in alcohol
  2. (as modifier)a spirit burner
alchemy any of the four substances sulphur, mercury, sal ammoniac, or arsenic

Word Origin for spirit

C14: special use of spirit 1, name applied to alchemical substances (as in sense 4), hence extended to distilled liquids
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for spirit away

spirit

n.

mid-13c., "animating or vital principle in man and animals," from Old French espirit, from Latin spiritus "soul, courage, vigor, breath," related to spirare "to breathe," from PIE *(s)peis- "to blow" (cf. Old Church Slavonic pisto "to play on the flute").

Original usage in English mainly from passages in Vulgate, where the Latin word translates Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruah. Distinction between "soul" and "spirit" (as "seat of emotions") became current in Christian terminology (e.g. Greek psykhe vs. pneuma, Latin anima vs. spiritus) but "is without significance for earlier periods" [Buck]. Latin spiritus, usually in classical Latin "breath," replaces animus in the sense "spirit" in the imperial period and appears in Christian writings as the usual equivalent of Greek pneuma.

Meaning "supernatural being" is attested from c.1300 (see ghost); that of "essential principle of something" (in a non-theological sense, e.g. Spirit of St. Louis) is attested from 1690, common after 1800. Plural form spirits "volatile substance" is an alchemical idea, first attested 1610; sense narrowed to "strong alcoholic liquor" by 1670s. This also is the sense in spirit level (1768).

spirit

v.

1590s, "to make more active or energetic" (of blood, alcohol, etc.), from spirit (n.). The meaning "carry off or away secretly" (as though by supernatural agency) is first recorded 1660s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for spirit away

spirit

[spĭr′ĭt]

n.

spirits An alcohol solution of an essential or volatile substance.
spirits An alcoholic beverage, especially distilled liquor.
A liquid that has been distilled.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Idioms and Phrases with spirit away

spirit away

Carry off mysteriously or secretly, as in The police found that the documents had been spirited away from the office. This term derives from the noun spirit, in the sense of “a supernatural being such as a ghost.” [Second half of 1600s]

spirit

In addition to the idioms beginning with spirit

  • spirit away
  • spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, the

also see:

  • kindred spirit
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.