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