The English word spirit (from Latin spiritus "breath") has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body. The word spirit is often used metaphysically to refer to the consciousness or personality. The notions of a person's spirit and soul often also overlap, as both contrast with body and both are understood as surviving the bodily death in religion and occultism, and "spirit" can also have the sense of "ghost", i.e. a manifestation of the spirit of a deceased person.
The term may also refer to any incorporeal or immaterial being, such as demons or deities, in Christianity specifically the Holy Spirit (though with a capital "S") experienced by the disciples at Pentecost.
Read more about Spirit: Etymology, Metaphysical and Metaphorical Uses, Related Concepts in Other Languages
Famous quotes containing the word spirit:
“O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“We are sure that, though we know not how, necessity does comport with liberty, the individual with the world, my polarity with the spirit of the times. The riddle of the age has for each a private solution.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We are living in a demented world. And we know it. It would not come as a surprise to anyone if tomorrow the madness gave way to a frenzy which would leave our poor Europe in a state of distracted stupor, with engines still turning and flags streaming in the breeze, but with the spirit gone.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)