English → Latin
“soul” in Latin
animaair, breath; life, ghost; soulspīritusair, breath, breathing; light breeze; spirit, ghostanimuslife, life force, soul, vitality (that life-giving aspect which animates a thing); conscience, intellect, mind, reason, mēnsmind; intellect, reason; reasoning, judgementcaputthe head (of humans and animals); head; top; summit; point; end; extremity (beginning or end); origin; source; spring; hhomō̆human, person, man; male human being, man; term of address to male peers, especially by another man: man, fellow, mate, auctorseller, vendor; author, originator; sponsor, advocateprī̆ncepsfirst, foremost; chief, distinguishedfundāmentumfoundation; beginning; basisvērustrue, real, actual (conforming to the actual state of reality or fact; factually correct); true, genuine (not counterfei
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
soul
The spirit of man, anima (the principle of life; also, the soul apart from the body, the spirit ☞ not = “the intellect” in the best prose): spiritus (the breath of life): animus (the living power, the sensitive and appetitive nature, ὁ θυμός; then the whole spiritual nature of man; opposed to corpus): mens (the intellect; ὁ νοῦς). Τo believe the immortality of the soul, censere animum semper permanere; censere animum immortalem esse: from my soul, ex animo; vere: with all my soul, toto animo.
A living being, a person, anima: caput, homo. Not a soul, nemo: there was not a soul in the house, nemo natus in aedibus fuit (comedy); hominum numerus capitum xxx. millium erat (30, 000 souls, Caes.).
Figuratively, A principal actor, leading principle or power, auctor: princeps (leader): fundamentum (ground-work): He was the very soul of the undertaking, dux, auctor, actor rerum gerendarum fuit (after Cic., Sext., 28, 61); princeps erat agendae rei (Liv., 4, 48, § 8): piety is the soul of virtue, pietas fundamentum est omnium virtutum.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for soul?
- The usual Latin words for “soul” are anima, spīritus, animus; also mēns, caput, homō̆. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.