n.
Pronunciation: ' a-n ə - ˌ mi-z ə m
Function: noun
Etymology: German Animismus, from Latin anima soul
Date: 1832
1 : a doctrine that the vital principle of organic development is immaterial spirit
2 : attribution of conscious life to objects in and phenomena of nature or to inanimate objects
3 : belief in the existence of spirits separable from bodies
– an · i · mist \ -mist \ noun
– an · i · mis · tic \ ˌ a-n ə - ' mis-tik \ adjective