spirit
SPEER-it · noun
Origin
English spirit comes from Middle English spirit, borrowed from Old French espirit, from Latin spīritus, meaning breath, itself from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- 'to blow, breathe.'
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Journey
In English, spirit replaced the native Middle English word gast (from Old English gāst) in this sense — gast survives today as ghost.
Related words
Spirit shares its Latin root spīrō ('to breathe, blow') with inspire, respire, and transpire, and it's a doublet of spiritus, sprite, and esprit — all descendants of the same word taking different paths into English.
More words
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