LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

anima

anima f (genitive animae)
Classical[ˈa.nɪ.ma]Ecclesiastical[ˈaː.ni.ma]
№ 493 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. feminineair, breath
    Sed cum soliditas mundo quaereretur, solida autem omnia uno medio numquam, duobus semper copulen- tur, ita contigit, ut inter ignem atque terram aquam deus animamque poneret eaque inter se conpararet et proportione coniungeret, ut, quem ad modum ignis animae, sic anima aquae, quodque anima aquae, id aqua terrae proportione redderet.But since solidity was needed for the world, and solids never are coupled by means of one thing, but always of two, so it has been contingent, that between fire and earth god put water and air, and made these things answer to each other and conjoined them by proportion, so that, in what wise fire to air, thus air to water, and what air to water, that by proportion water would render to earth.106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Timaeus 15
    ...animum autem alii animam, ut fere nostri; declarat nomen: [...] Zenoni Stoico animus ignis videtur....some would have the mind to be air, which is about what our people do; the name makes it evident: … The Stoic Zeno thinks that the mind is fire.106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes 1.19
  2. femininelife, ghost
  3. femininesoul
    Magnificat anima mea Dominum.My soul doth magnify the Lord.Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, Lucam 1:46:

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quā vīvimus et spīrāmus; mortuī corpus animam nōn iam habet.
anima -ae f — in Mille Verba, ch. Vīta et Mors

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Anima · Animus · Mens

1. Anima denotes ‘the soul,’ physiologically, as the principle of animal life, in men and brutes, that ceases with the breath, like ψυχή: animus (ἄνεμος), psychologically and ethically, as the principle of moral personality, that ceases with the will, like θυμός. The souls of the departed also are called, in a mythological point of view, animæ, as shades; but, in a metaphysical point of view, animi, as spirits. Anima is a part of bodily existence; animus, in direct opposition to the body. Sen. Ep. 4. Difficile est animum perducere ad contemtionem animæ: and 58. Juven. xv. 148. Principio indulsit communis conditor illis tantum animas, nobis animum quoque. 2. Animus denotes also the human soul, as including all its faculties, and is distinguished from mens (μένος, μανθάνω, the thinking faculty, as a whole from one of its parts. Cic. Rep. ii. 40. Ea quæ latet in animis hominum, quæque pars animi mens vocatur. Lucr. iii. 615. iv. 758. Catull. 65, 3. Plaut. Cist. iii. 1, 6. As in practical life the energy of the soul is displayed in the faculty of volition, so animus itself stands for a part of the soul, namely, feeling and energy of will in co-ordinate relation to mens, the intellect or understanding. Tac. II. i. 84. Quem nobis animum, quas mentes imprecentur. Ter. Andr. i. 1. 137. Mala mens, malus animus. And, lastly, so far as thought precedes the will, and the will itself, or determination, stands as mediator between thought and action, in the same way as the body is the servant of the will, so mens is related to animus, as a whole to its part. Cic. Tusc. iii. 5. Mens, cui regnum totius animi a natura tributum est. Liv. xxxvii. 45. (v. 94.)

Anima · Aer · Aura · Spiritus · Sublime

Anima and aër denote ‘air’ as an element, like ἀήρ, and anima (ἄνεμος), in opp. to terra, mare, ignis; but aër, a learned term (ἀήρ, from ἀείρω?) in opp. to æther; aura and spiritus denote ‘air’ when put in motion; aura (αὔρα, from ἀέσαι, or from ἀεῖραι), the gently waving and fanning air; spiritus, the streaming and breath-like air, like πνεῦμα; lastly, sublime (from sublevare?), the air that hovers over us, simply in a local relation, in opp. to humus, like μετάρσιον, μετέωρον. (v. 92.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeanimaanimae
genitiveanimaeanimārum
dativeanimaeanimīs
animābus
accusativeanimamanimās
ablativeanimāanimīs
animābus
vocativeanimaanimae

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

animam agere
to be at one's last gasp.
animam continere
to hold one's breath.
animam, spiritum ducere
to breathe, live.
animam edere or efflare
to give up the ghost.

ănĭma, ae, f. (
I. gen. animāï, Lucr. 1, 112; 3, 150 et saep.; cf. Neue, Formenl. I. p. 12; Lachm. ad Lucr. 1, 29; dat. and abl. plur. regul. animis, Cic. Fam. 14, 14; Lact. Inst. 6, 20, 19; 7, 2, 1; Arn. 2, 18; 2, 30; 2, 33; Aug. Civ. Dei, 13, 18; 13, 19; id. Ver. Relig. 22, 43: animabus, only in eccl. and later Lat., Vulg. Exod. 30, 12; ib. Psa. 77, 18; ib. Matt. 11, 29; ib. Heb. 13, 17 et saep.; Tert. adv. Marc. 4, 34; id. Anim. 33 al.; Aug. Civ. Dei, 19, 23; Prud. c. Symm. 1, 531; Aus. Rer. Odyss. 11; Serv. ad Verg. A. 6, 136 al.; Neue, Formenl. I. p. 29) [v. animus], pr. that which blows or breathes; hence,
I. Lit., air, a current of air, a breeze, wind (mostly poet.): ne quid animae forte amittat dormiens, Plaut. Aul. 2, 4, 23 sq.: vela ventorum animae immittere, Att. ap. Non. p. 234, 9 (Trag. Rel. p. 137 Rib.): aurarum leves animae, Lucr. 5, 236: prece quaesit Ventorum pavidus paces animasque secundas, he anxiously implores a lull in the winds and a favoring breeze, id. 5, 1229: impellunt animae lintea, Hor. C. 4, 12, 2: Ne dubites quin haec animaï turbida sit vis, Lucr. 6, 693: Quantum ignes animaeque valent (of the wind in the workshop of Vulcan), Verg. A. 8, 403.—Also of a flame of fire (blowing like the air): noctilucam tollo, ad focum fero, inflo; anima reviviscit, Varr. ap. Non. p. 234, 5.—
II. Transf.
A. In gen., the air, as an element, like fire, water, and earth (mostly poet.): aqua, terra, anima et sol, Enn. ap. Varr. R. R. 1, 4, 1: qui quattuor ex rebus posse omnia rentur, Ex igni, terrā atque animā, procrescere et imbri, Lucr. 1, 715: ut, quem ad modum ignis animae, sic anima aquae, quodque anima aquae, id aqua terrae proportione redderet. Earum quattuor rerum etc., Cic. Tim. 5: utrum (animus) sit ignis, an anima, an sanguis, id. Ac. 2, 39, 124: si anima est (animus), fortasse dissipabitur, id. Tusc. 1, 1, 24; 1, 25, 6: si deus aut anima aut ignis est, idem est animus hominis, id. ib. 1, 26, 65: animus ex inflammatā animā constat, ut potissimum videri video Panaetio, id. ib. 1, 18, 42: Semina terrarumque animaeque, Verg. E. 6, 32.—
B. The air inhaled and exhaled, breath (concr.); while spiritus denotes orig. breathing (abstr.; very freq. in prose and poetry); cf. Cic. N. D. 2, 54, 136: excipiat animam eam, quae ducta sit spiritu, Plaut. As. 5, 2, 44: animam compressi, aurem admovi, Ter. Phorm. 5, 6, 28 Ruhnk.: animam recipe, take breath, id. Ad. 3, 2, 26: cum spiritus ejus (sc. Demosthenis) esset angustior, tantum continendā animā in dicendo est assecutus, ut, etc., Cic. de Or. 1, 61, 261: ne circuitus ipse verborum sit longior quam vires atque anima patiatur, id. ib. 3, 49, 191; 3, 46, 181; id. N. D. 2, 54, 136: fetida anima nasum oppugnat, Titin. ap. Non. p. 233, 5 (Com. Rel. p. 136 Rib.); Caecil. ib. 9: qui non modo animum integrum, sed ne animam quidem puram conservare potuisset, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 58: animas et olentia Medi Ora fovent illo, with this the Medes correct their breath, etc., Verg. G. 2, 134: respiramen iterque Eripiunt animae, Ov. M. 12, 143; cf. id. F. 1, 425: animae gravitas, bad smell of the breath, Plin. 20, 9, 35, § 91; cf. id. 11, 37, 72, § 188; 22, 25, 64, § 132 al.: artavit clusitque animam, Luc. 4, 370; so Tac. A. 6, 50: spes illorum abominatio animae, Vulg. Job, 11, 20.—Of breath exhaled: inspirant graves animas, Ov. M. 4, 498.— Of the air breathed into a musical instrument, a breath of air, Varr. ap. Non. p. 233. 13.—Since air is a necessary condition of life,
C. 1.. The vital principle, the breath of life: animus est, quo sapimus, anima, quā vivimus, Non. p. 426, 27 (hence anima denotes the animal principle of life, in distinction from animus, the spiritual, reasoning, willing principle; very freq. in Lucr. and class.): Mater est terra, ea parit corpus, animam aether adjugat, Pac. ap. Non. p. 75, 11 (Trag. Rel. p. 88 Rib.): tunc cum primis ratione sagaci, Unde anima atque animi constet natura, videndum, whence spring life and the nature of the mind, Lucr. 1, 131; 3, 158 sq.; so id. 3, 417 sq.; 3, 565; 3, 705; 2, 950; 4, 922; 4, 944; 4, 959; 6, 798; 6, 1223; 6, 1233 et saep.: deus totus est sensuus, totus visuus, totus audituus, totus animae, totus animi, totus sui, Plin. 2, 7, 5, § 14 Jan: quaedam (animantia) animum habent, quaedam tantum animam, Sen. Ep. 58: anima omnis carnis in sanguine est, Vulg. Lev. 17, 14 al.—Hence,
2. In gen., life: cum anima corpus liquerit, Att. Trag. Rel. p. 214 Rib.: Animae pauxillulum in me habet, Naev. Com. Rel. p. 14 Rib.: Date ferrum, quī me animā privem, Enn. ap. Non. p. 474, 31 (Trag. Rel. p. 37 Rib.): me dicabo atque animam devōvo (i. e. devovero) hostibus, Att. ap. Non. p. 98, 12 (Trag. Rel. p. 283 Rib.): conficit animam vis volneris, Att. Trag. Rel. p. 209 Rib.: adimere animam, Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 137; so id. Men. 5, 5, 7: exstinguere, Ter. Ad. 3, 2, 16: relinquere, id. ib. 3, 4, 52: edere, Cic. Sest. 38: de vestrā vitā, de conjugum vestrarum ac liberorum animā judicandum est, id. Cat. 4, 9, 18: si tibi omnia sua praeter animam tradidit, id. Rosc. Am. 50: libertas et anima nostra in dubio est, Sall. C. 52, 6: pauci, quibus relicta est anima, clausi in tenebris, etc., id. J. 14, 15; cf. retinere, id. ib. 31, 20: de manu viri et fratris ejus requiram animam hominis, Vulg. Gen. 9, 5; ib. Matt. 2, 20; ib. 1 Cor. 14, 7: animam agere, to give up the ghost, to die, Cic. Tusc. 1, 9, 19; so also efflare, to expire, id. ib.; id. Mil. 18 fin.; Suet. Aug. 99; so, exhalare, Ov. M. 15, 528; and, exspirare, id. ib. 5, 106 (cf. in Gr. θυμὸν ἀποπνέειν, ψυχὴν ἐκπνέειν, βίον ἀποψύχειν, etc.): deponere, Nep. Hann. 1, 3: ponere, Vulg. Joan. 10, 17; 13, 27: amittere, Lucr. 6, 1233: emittere, Nep. Epam. 9, 3 Br. (so in Gr. ἀφιέναι τὴν ψυχήν): proicere, Verg. A. 6, 436: purpuream vomit ille animam, said of a wounded man, id. ib. 9, 349.—In Vulg. Matt. 16, 25 and 26, anima in v. 25 seems to pass to the higher meaning, soul, (cf. infra, II. D.) in v. 26, as ἡ ψυχή in the original also can do.—Poet.: anima amphorae, the fumes of wine, Phaedr. 3, 1: Ni ego illi puteo, si occepso, animam omnem intertraxero, draw up all the life of that well, i. e. draw it dry, Plaut. Am. 2, 2, 41.—Trop.: corpus imperii unius praesidis nutu, quasi animā et mente, regeretur, Flor. 4, 3: accentus quasi anima vocis est, Pompon. p. 67 Lind.—Prov.: animam debere, to owe life itself, of one deeply in debt: quid si animam debet? Ter. Phorm. 4, 3, 56 (Graecum proverbium: καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν ὀφείλει, Don.).—Metaph., applied to plants and other things possessing organic life, Sen. Ep. 58; so Plin. 17, 21, 35, § 152; 31, 1, 1, § 3; 14, 1, 3, § 16 al.—
3. Meton., a creature endowed with anima, a living being: ova parere solet genu' pennis condecoratum, non animam, Enn. ap. Varr. L. L. 5, 10, 18: hi (deos) fibris animāque litant, Stat. Th. 2, 246; Vulg. Gen. 2, 7; ib. Josh. 11, 11; ib. Luc. 9, 56; ib. Act. 2, 43 et saep.: animae rationis expertes, Lact. 3, 8.—So esp. of men (as we also say souls for persons; poet. or in post-Aug. prose): egregias animas, quae sanguine nobis Hanc patriam peperere suo, etc., Verg. A. 11, 24: animae quales nec candidiores, etc., Hor. S. 1, 5, 41; Luc. 5, 322: vos Treveri et ceterae servientium animae, ministering spirits, Tac. H. 4, 32.—So in enumerations in eccl. Lat.: hos genuit Jacob sedecim animas, Vulg. Gen. 46, 18; 46, 22; ib. Act. 2, 41; 7, 14.—Of slaves (eccl. Lat.): merces animarum hominum, Vulg. Apoc. 18, 13 (after the use of ἡ ψυχή and ). —Hence, also, souls separated from the body, the shades of the Lower World, manes: Unde (ex Averno) animae excitantur, Enn. ap. Cic. Tusc. 1, 16, 37: tu pias laetis animas reponis Sedibus, Hor. C. 1, 10, 17; cf. id. S. 1, 8, 29: animamque sepulcro Condimus, Verg. A. 3, 67; Ov. M. 7, 612; so id. ib. 8, 488; 10, 41; 14, 411; 15, 158; Suet. Caes. 88; so, vita: tenuīs sine corpore vitas volitare, Verg. A. 6, 292.—So in eccl. Lat. of departed spirits: timete eum, qui potest animam et corpus perdere in Gehennam, Vulg. Matt. 10, 28 bis: non derelinques animam meam in Inferno, ib. Act. 2, 27; ib. Apoc. 6, 9; 20, 4.—
4. As expressive of love: vos, meae carissimae animae, my dearest souls, Cic. Fam. 14, 14; 14, 18: Pro quā non metuam mori, Si parcent animae fata superstiti, the dear surviving life, Hor. C. 3, 9, 12; cf.: animae dimidium meae, id. ib. 1, 3, 8: meae pars animae, id. ib. 2, 17, 5.—
D. Sometimes for animus, as the rational soul of man.
a. The mind as the seat of thought (cf. animus, II. A.): anima rationis consiliique particeps, Cic. N.D.1, 31, 87: causa in animā sensuque meo penitus affixa atque insita, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 53: ingenii facinora, sicut anima, immortalia sunt, Sall. J. 2, 2.—So often in eccl. Lat.: ad te Domine, levavi animam meam, Vulg. Psa. 24, 1; 102, 1; 118, 129: magnificat anima mea Dominum, ib. Luc. 1, 46; ib. Act. 15, 24 al.—
b. As the seat of feeling (cf. animus, II. B.): sapimus animo, fruimur animā: sine animo anima est debilis, Att. ap. Non. p. 426, 29 (Trag. Rel. p. 175 Rib.): desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus, Vulg. Psa. 41, 2: tristis est anima mea, ib. Matt. 26, 38; ib. Joan. 10, 27 et saep.—
E. For consciousness (cf. animus, II. A. 3. and conscientia, II. A.): cum perhibetur animam liquisse, Lucr. 3, 598; in this phrase animus is more common.

Origins

See animus.

Elsewhere
  • Catalanànima
  • Englishanima
  • Italianalma
  • Italiananima
  • Occitananma
  • Occitanarma
  • Frenchâmefrom Old French ame
  • Portuguesealmafrom Old Galician-Portuguese alma
  • Portugueseanima
  • Romanianinimă
Padanian
  • Emilianarma
  • Ligurianànima
  • Lombardarma
  • Piedmonteseanmafrom Old Piedmontese arma
  • Piedmonteseambrafrom Old Piedmontese arma
  • Piedmontesealmafrom Old Piedmontese arma
  • Piedmontesearmafrom Old Piedmontese arma
  • Romagnolânma

Quick answers

What does anima mean in Latin?
anima, a noun, means “air, breath; life, ghost; soul”.
What is the genitive of anima?
The genitive singular is animae. anima is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce anima?
In classical Latin, [ˈa.nɪ.ma]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈaː.ni.ma].