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Webster 1913 Edition


Animism

An′i-mism

,
Noun.
[Cf. F.
animisme
, fr. L.
anima
soul. See
Animate
.]
1.
The doctrine, taught by Stahl, that the soul is the proper principle of life and development in the body.
2.
The belief that inanimate objects and the phenomena of nature are endowed with personal life or a living soul; also, in an extended sense, the belief in the existence of soul or spirit apart from matter.
Tylor.

Definition 2024


animism

animism

English

Noun

animism (plural animisms)

  1. A belief that spirits inhabit some or all classes of natural objects or phenomena.
  2. A belief that an immaterial force animates the universe.
  3. (dated) A doctrine that animal life is produced by an immaterial spirit.

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See also