Spirit

Spirit, spir′it, n. vital force: the soul: a ghost: mental disposition: enthusiasm, animation, courage, mettle: real meaning: essence, chief quality: a very lively person: any volatile, inflammable liquid obtained by distillation, as brandy: (pl.) intellectual activity: liveliness: persons with particular qualities of mind: mental excitement: spirituous liquors.—v.t. to inspirit, encourage, cheer: to convey away secretly, to kidnap.—ns. Spir′it-blue, an aniline blue obtained from coal-tar; Spir′it-duck, the buffle-head, from its rapid diving.—adj. Spir′ited, full of spirit, life, or fire: animated.—adv. Spir′itedly.—n. Spir′itedness.—adj. Spir′itful.—n. Spir′iting, the office of a spirit or sprite; Spir′itism=Spiritualism; Spir′itist=Spiritualist; Spir′it-lamp, a lamp in which alcohol is burned, generally used for heating.—adj. Spir′itless, without spirit, cheerfulness, or courage: dejected: dead.—adv. Spir′itlessly.—ns. Spir′itlessness, the state of being spiritless: want of animation or energy; Spir′it-lev′el, in surveying, a cylindrical glass tube, slightly convex on one side, and so nearly filled with alcohol that only a small bubble of air remains inside—from the position of the bubble the amount of variation from perfect levelness is determined.—adj. Spir′itous, of the nature of spirit, pure: ardent, spirituous.—ns. Spir′itousness; Spir′it-rap′per, one to whom spirits convey intelligence by raps or knocks; Spir′it-rap′ping.—adjs. Spir′it-stir′ring, rousing the spirit; Spir′itūal, consisting of spirit: having the nature of a spirit: immaterial: relating to the mind: intellectual: pertaining to the soul: holy: divine: relating to sacred things: not lay or temporal.—n. Spiritualisā′tion.—v.t. Spir′itūalise, to make spiritual: to imbue with spirituality: to refine: to free from sensuality: to give a spiritual meaning to.—ns. Spir′itualiser; Spir′itualism, a being spiritual: the philosophical doctrine that nothing is real but soul or spirit: the doctrine that spirit has a real existence apart from matter: the name applied to a varied series of abnormal phenomena purporting to be for the most part caused by spiritual beings acting upon specially sensitive persons or mediums; Spir′itūalist, one who has a regard only to spiritual things: one who holds the doctrine of spiritualism or spiritism.—adj. Spiritūalist′ic, relating to, or connected with, spiritualism.—n. Spiritūal′ity, state of being spiritual: essence distinct from matter.—adv. Spir′itūally.—ns. Spir′itūal-mind′edness, the state of having holy affections; Spir′itūalness, the state or quality of being spiritual.—adj. Spi′ritūelle, showing great grace and delicacy.—n. Spiritūos′ity, spirituous character: immateriality.—advs. Spirit-uō′so, Spiritō′so (mus.), with spirit or animation.—adj. Spir′itūous, possessing the qualities of spirit: containing much alcohol: volatile.—ns. Spir′itūousness, the quality of being spirituous: stimulating quality: ardour: activity; Spir′itus, a breathing, an aspirate: any spirituous preparation; Spir′itworld, the world of disembodied spirits.—adj. Spir′ity (Scot.), full of spirit, spirited.—Spirit of wine, alcohol; Spiritual court, an ecclesiastical court; Spiritus asper, a rough breathing; Spiritus lenis, a soft or smooth breathing.—Animal spirits, constitutional liveliness of spirits; Holy Spirit (see under Holy); The Spirit, the Holy Spirit: the human spirit under the influence of the Holy Spirit. [L. spiritus, a breath—spirāre, to breathe.]