- (n.) A rough breathing; an aspirate, as the letter h; also, a mark to denote aspiration; a breathing.
- (n.) Life or living substance, considered independently of corporeal existence; an intelligence conceived of apart from any physical organization or embodiment; vital essence, force or energy, as distinct from matter.
- (n.) Temper or disposition of mind; mental condition or disposition; intellectual or moral state; -- often in the plural; as, to be cheerful or in good spirits; to be downhearted or in bad spirits.
- (n.) Any liquid produced by distillation; especially, alcohol, the spirits or spirit, of wine (it having been first distilled from wine): -- often in the plural.
- (n.) Tenuous, volatile, airy or vapory substance, possessed of active qualities.
- (n.) One who is vivacious or lively; one who evinces great activity or peculiar characteristics of mind or temper; as, a ruling spirit; a schismatic spirit.
- (n.) The intelligent, immaterial and immortal part of man; the soul, in distinction from the body in which it resides; the agent or subject of vital and spiritual functions, whether spiritual or material.
- (n.) Specifically, a disembodied soul; the human soul after it has left the body.
- (n.) A solution in alcohol of a volatile principle. Cf. Tincture.
- (n.) Stannic chloride. See under Stannic.
- (n.) Any supernatural being, good or bad; an apparition; a specter; a ghost; also, sometimes, a sprite,; a fairy; an elf.
- (n.) Rum, whisky, brandy, gin, and other distilled liquors having much alcohol, in distinction from wine and malt liquors.
- (v.t.) To convey rapidly and secretly or mysteriously, as if by the agency of a spirit; to kidnap; -- often with away or off.
- (n.) Intent; real meaning; -- opposed to the letter or to formal statement; also, characteristic quality, especially such as is derived from the individual genius or the personal character; as, the spirit of an enterprise, of a document or the like.
- (n.) Any one of the four substances, sulphur, sal ammoniac, quicksilver or arsenic (or, according to some, orpiment).
- (v.t.) To animate with vigor; to excite; to encourage; to inspirit; as, civil dissensions often spirit the ambition of private men; -- sometimes followed by up.
- (n.) Air set in motion by breathing; breath; hence, sometimes, life itself.
- (n.) Energy, vivacity, ardor, enthusiasm, courage, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). spirit. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/spirit/definitions/2064994 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "spirit" http://smartdefine.org/spirit/definitions/2064994 (accessed September 27, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, spirit, Smart Define, viewed 27 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/spirit/definitions/2064994>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "spirit" 28 May 2011. Web. 27 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/spirit/definitions/2064994> |