— animately , adv. — animateness , n. — animatingly , adv.
v. /an"euh mayt'/ ; adj. /an"euh mit/ , v. , animated, animating , adj.
v.t.
1. to give life to; make alive: God animated the dust.
2. to make lively, vivacious, or vigorous; give zest or spirit to: Her presence animated the party.
3. to fill with courage or boldness; encourage: to animate weary troops.
4. to move or stir to action; motivate: He was animated by religious zeal.
5. to give motion to: leaves animated by a breeze.
6. to prepare or produce as an animated cartoon: to animate a children's story.
adj.
7. alive; possessing life: animate creatures.
8. lively: an animate expression of joy.
9. of or relating to animal life.
10. able to move voluntarily.
11. Ling. belonging to a syntactic category or having a semantic feature that is characteristic of words denoting beings regarded as having perception and volition (opposed to inanimate ).
[ 1375-1425; late ME animat animatus filled with breath or air, quickened, animated (ptp. of animare ). See ANIMA, -ATE 1 ]
Syn. 1. vivify, quicken, vitalize. 2. energize, fortify. ANIMATE, INVIGORATE, STIMULATE mean to enliven. To ANIMATE is to create a liveliness: Health and energy animated his movements. To INVIGORATE means to give physical vigor, to refresh, to exhilarate: Mountain air invigorates. To STIMULATE is to arouse a latent liveliness on a particular occasion: Alcohol stimulates. 3. inspire, inspirit, hearten, arouse, exhilarate. 4. excite, incite, fire, urge, kindle, prompt.
Ant. 1. kill. 7. dead.