spir't

Noun

spirit (countable and uncountable, plural spirits)

1. The soul of a person or other creature.
   • […] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind...1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
2. A supernatural being, often but not exclusively without physical form; ghost, fairy, angel.
   • A wandering spirit haunts the island.
3. Enthusiasm.
   • School spirit is at an all-time high.
4. Energy; ardour.
   • "Write it then, quickly," replied Bede; and summoning all his spirits together, like the last blaze of a candle going out, he indited it, and expired.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)
5. The manner or style of something.
   • In the spirit of forgiveness, we didn't press charges.
6. Intent; real meaning; opposed to the letter, or formal statement.
   • the spirit of an enterprise, or of a document

See all 16 meanings of spirit