English
spirit
Spirit comes from Old French espirit, from Latin spīritus ‘breath’, from spīrō ‘to breathe’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrō‘to breathe’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīritus‘breath’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400espirit
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spirit‘life’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrō‘to breathe’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīritus‘breath’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400espirit
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spirit‘life’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto XII: “But the milde air with season moderate / Gently…”
The story
In this sense, displaced native Middle English gast (from Old English gāst), whence modern English ghost.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- ‘to blow, breathe’
through Latin spīrō ‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’
conspiracy, respiratory, expire, aspiration, aspire, spire, aspirant, 51 more
through Latin spīritus ‘breath’
Today it means
noun The soul of a person or other creature.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin spīrō / spirit