Where does “animal” come from?
animal (Haitian Creole) comes from French animal, from Italian animale, from Spanish animal, from Latin animal, from Latin animālis, from Latin anima, from Latin animus, from Proto-Italic anamos — to breathe.
animal (Haitian Creole): animal
Ancestry of “animal”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | animal | animal |
| 2 | Italian | animale | animal; beast |
| 3 | Spanish | animal | animal |
| 4 | Latin | animal | animal; living creature |
| 5 | Latin | animālis | — |
| 6 | Latin | anima | soul, spirit, life; air, breeze; breath |
| 7 | Latin | animus | That life-giving aspect which animates: life... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | anamos | breath; spirit, soul, life force |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂enh₁mos | breath |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂enh₁- | to breathe |