*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of animus

Learned borrowing from Latin animus (“the mind, in a great variety of meanings: the rational soul in man, intellect, consciousness, will, intention, courage, spirit, sensibility, feeling, passion, pride, vehemence, wrath

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

The basic impulses and instincts which govern one's actions. · A feeling of enmity, animosity or ill will. · Intention, motivation (of a legal person). · The masculine aspect of the feminine psyche or personality.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Learned borrowing from Latin animus (“the mind, in a great variety of meanings: the rational soul in man, intellect, consciousness, will, intention, courage, spirit, sensibility, feeling, passion, pride, vehemence, wrath, etc., the breath, life, soul”), from Proto-Italic *anamos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos, from *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe”). Closely related to Latin anima, which is a feminine form.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂enh₁-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "lbor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "animus",
        "4": "",
        "5": "the mind, in a great variety of meanings: the rational soul in man, intellect, consciousness, will, intention, courage, spirit, sensibility, feeling, passion, pride, vehemence, wrath, etc., the breath, life, soul"
      },
      "expansion": "Learned borrowing from Latin animus (“the mind, in a great variety of meanings: the rational soul in man, intellect, consciousness, will, intention, courage, spirit, sensibility, feeling, passion, pride, vehemence, wrath, etc., the breath, life, soul”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "itc-pro",
        "3": "*anamos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Italic *anamos"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂enh₁mos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "anima"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin anima"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "animus",
      "animus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*anamos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/anamos"
    ],
    [
      "*h₂enh₁mos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂enh₁mos"
    ],
    [
      "*h₂enh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂enh₁-"
    ],
    [
      "anima",
      "anima#Latin"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The basic impulses and instincts which govern one's actions.",
        "A feeling of enmity, animosity or ill will.",
        "Intention, motivation (of a legal person).",
        "The masculine aspect of the feminine psyche or personality."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ],
      "recordId": "54accbd80a854df9b7093794760f735bd78aca56c2b08f939e8039626d5e1bf8",
      "rawRecordSha256": "d4677a40c3fe9f6da615963443eb956e70ad9f9d6f49e9269b2ce27e386ee74f",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 274260
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for animus →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YW5pbXVz