animism

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) A belief that spirits inhabit some or all classes of natural objects or phenomena.
2. (countable, uncountable) A belief that an immaterial force animates the universe.
3. (countable, dated, uncountable) A doctrine that animal life is produced by an immaterial spirit.

Synonyms

nature worship

hylozoism

naturism

heathenism

personification

polytheism

pantheism

Translations

animisme

Animismus

animismo

animismo

animisme

animismo

ανιμισμός

animizm

canlıcılık

animismus

animisme

attribution d’une âme aux objects inanimés

animistische Ausdrucksweise

Animismo

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈænɪmɪzəm/

Etymology

From anima + -ism, from Latin anima (“life", "breath", "soul”). Dated sense from German Animismus, coined c. 1720 by physicist/chemist Georg Ernst Stahl (1660-1734) See anima mundi.