Word.ws English Dictionary

spirit

Syllables: spir·itUK/ˈspɪɹɪt//ˈspɪɹɪt/

spirit noun: the soul of a person or other creature.

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
    • […] a triumph of the spirit over the flesh.1967, MacCormack, Woman Times Seven
  2. A supernatural being, often but not exclusively without physical form; ghost, fairy, angel.
    • A wandering spirit haunts the island.
    • He has seen spirits roam the house.
  3. Enthusiasm.
    • School spirit is at an all-time high.
    • The result may not quite give the Wearsiders a sweet ending to what has been a sour week, following allegations of sexual assault and drug possession against defender Titus Bramble, but it does at least demonstrate that their spirit remains strong in the face of adversity.2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2-2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport
  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.
    • No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or[…]. And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46
  6. Intent; real meaning; opposed to the letter, or formal statement.
    • the spirit of an enterprise, or of a document
  7. (plural-normally) A volatile liquid, such as alcohol. The plural form spirits is a generic term for distilled alcoholic beverages.
    • CRYSTALS of Venus or of copper, called also vitriol of Venus, is copper reduced into the form of vitriol by spirit of nitre, or by dissolving verdegris in good distilled vinegar, till the acid be saturated; it is very caustic and used to eat off proud flesh. It is also used by painters, and...1807, A New and Complete Encyclopaedia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences: Vol III, page 48
    • Another pair of terms which caused some confusion were Spirit of Saturn and Spirit of Venus, names suggesting compounds of lead and copper respectively. Jean Beguin described the preparation from minium and distilled vinegar of a liquid he called burning spirit of Saturn, because it was inflammable...2004, Maurice P. Crosland, Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry, page 89
  8. One who is vivacious or lively; one who evinces great activity or peculiar characteristics of mind or temper.
    • a ruling spirit; a schismatic spirit
    • Such spirits as he desired to please, such would I choose for my judges.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  9. (in plural, often) Temper or disposition of mind; mental condition or disposition; intellectual or moral state.
    • to be cheerful, or in good spirits; to be down-hearted, or in bad spirits
    • God has […] made a spirit of building succeed a spirit of pulling down.1667, Robert South, Sermon VII
  10. (obsolete) Air set in motion by breathing; breath; hence, sometimes, life itself.
    • For else he sure had left not one aliue,>br>But all in his reuenge of spirite would depriue.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 36
    • But the milde air with season moderate / Gently attempred, and disposd so well, / That still it breathed forth sweet spirit & holesome smell.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 51
  11. (obsolete) A rough breathing; an aspirate, such as the letter h; also, a mark denoting aspiration.
    • Be it a letter or spirit, we have great use of it.1640, Ben Jonson, The English Grammar
  12. (obsolete) Any of the four substances: sulphur, sal ammoniac, quicksilver, and arsenic (or, according to some, orpiment).
  13. Stannic chloride.
  14. (Hegelian) The essence behind historical development of both individual and society evolving towards the Absolute.

Verb

spirit (third-person singular simple present spirits, present participle spiriting, simple past and past participle spirited)

  1. To carry off, especially in haste, secrecy, or mystery.
    • I felt as if I had been spirited into some castle of felicity.1835, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Pencillings by the Way
    • When I was young and full of grace, I sprited a rattlesnake.
      When I was young, a fever fell my spirit; I will not tell.
      You're on your honor not to tell.1986 July 28, R.E.M., “I Believe”, in Lifes Rich Pageant
  2. Sometimes followed by up: to animate with vigour; to excite; to encourage; to inspirit.
    • Civil dissensions often spirit the ambition of private men.
    • [H]e left behind many Officers and private Men, vvho novv ſpirit-up and aſſiſt thoſe obſtinate People to continue in their Rebellion.1714 February, [Jonathan Swift], The Publick Spirit of the Whigs: Set forth in Their Generous Encouragement of the Author of the Crisis: […], London: […] [John Barber] for John Morphew, […], →OCLC...

Proper noun capitalized: Spirit

Spirit

  1. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Holy Spirit.
    • Around us the history of the land has centred for thrice a hundred years; out of the nation's heart we have called all that was best to throttle and subdue all that was worst; fire and blood, prayer and sacrifice, have billowed over this people, and they have found peace only in the altars of the...1903, W. E. B. DuBois, chapter 14, in The Souls of Black Folk

spirit meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

spirit in Hindi

soul
आत्मा ātmā, प्राण prāṇ, रूह rūh
supernatural being
प्रेत pret, भूत bhūt, अदृश्य adŕśya
enthusiasm
साहस sāhas
manner or style
स्वभाव svabhāv

spirit in Urdu

soul
رُوح rūh, آتْما ātmā

spirit in Bengali

soul
রূহ rūh

spirit in Telugu

soul
గుండె ధైర్యము guṇḍe dhairyamu
supernatural being
అత్యుత్సాహవంతుడు atyutsāhavantuḍu
enthusiasm
కుతూహలము kutūhalamu
manner or style
వ్యక్తిత్వము vyaktitvamu
More languagesFewer languages
spirit in Gujarati
આત્મા ātmā
spirit in Pashto
روح roh
spirit in Tagalog
espiritu, kaluluwa, diwa, batlaya
spirit in Arabic
رُوح rūḥ, رُوَح ruwaḥ, كُحُول kuḥūl
spirit in Malay
semangat, roh
spirit in Indonesian
jiwa, roh, ruh, semangat
spirit in Thai
จิต jìt, จิตวิญญาณ jìt-win-yaan, วิญญาณ win-yaan
spirit in Vietnamese
hồn, tinh linh, rượu
spirit in Myanmar
ဝိညာဉ် wi.nyany

Examples of spirit in a sentence

  • Whilst young, preserve his tender mind from all impressions and notions of spirits and goblins[…] in the dark.1693, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education:
  • An unusual custom is followed at Llangennith, when shotguns are fired at a wedding - to scare off evil spirits from the newlyweds.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 258:
  • A perfect judge will read each work of wit / With the same spirit that its author writ.1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e]...
  • Another pair of terms which caused some confusion were Spirit of Saturn and Spirit of Venus, names suggesting compounds of lead and copper respectively.2004, Maurice P. Crosland, Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry, page 89:

All 40 example sentences with spirit

Synonyms of spirit

All synonyms of spirit

Forms of spirit

Noun
pluralspirits
alternative Early Modernspir't
Verb
third-person singular presentspirits
present participlespiriting
past participlespirited
pastspirited

Past tense of spirit: spirited

Plural of spirit: spirits

Origin of spirit

From Middle English spirit, from Old French espirit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus (“breath; spirit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow, breathe”). Compare inspire, respire, transpire, all ultimately from Latin spīrō (“to breathe, blow, respire”). In this sense, displaced native Middle English gast (from Old English gāst), whence modern English ghost. Doublet of spiritus, spirytus, sprite, spright, and esprit.

Words formed from spirit

Phrases with spirit

74 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with spirit

Questions about spirit

What does spirit mean?
Spirit means the soul of a person or other creature.
What is spirit in Hindi?
Spirit in Hindi is आत्मा (ātmā), प्राण (prāṇ), रूह (rūh). See Spirit meaning in Hindi.
How do you use spirit in a sentence?
Whilst young, preserve his tender mind from all impressions and notions of spirits and goblins[…] in the dark.
What part of speech is spirit?
Spirit can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce spirit?
Spirit is pronounced /ˈspɪɹɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of spirit?
The plural of spirit is spirits.

Words near spirit in the dictionary

  1. spirillosis
  2. spirilloxanthin
  3. spirillum
  4. spirillums
  5. spiring
  6. spirit
  7. spirit animal
  8. spirit animals
  9. spirit away
  10. spirit bear
  11. spirit bears

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spirit (page history and authors); Spirit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-spirit.ogg.

Cite this entry: “spirit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spirit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.