The condition or attribute of life in humans or animals; animate existence; this viewed as a possession of which one is deprived by death. Obsolete.

In extended use: something which represents the cause or source of living or of vitality; a vivifying or animating principle; a person who or that…

The animating or vital principle in living things; spirit, soul, or life force.

Blood regarded as the fluid which sustains life, lifeblood; (hence) the vital principle, that upon which life depends; (metonymically) life…

The animating or vital principle in humans and animals; that which gives life to the body, in contrast to its purely material being; the life…

life and soul. Cf. body, n. 1b and heart and soul, n.

= quickness, n.

The quality or fact of being alive or living; life, vitality, vital principle. Now literary.

The faculty or action of breathing; respiration. Hence: existence, life.

The animating or vital principle in humans and animals; that which gives life to the body, in contrast to its purely material being; the life…

The vital or animating principle in man; a trace of life or vitality. Frequently in vital spark, spark of life.

The power or force which is fundamental to the physical and mental functioning of a human being. Obsolete.

A vital or animating principle. rare.

Vivacity, animation; (also) †vitality (obsolete).

Of a person, a person's soul, mind, etc. Having the faculty of reasoning; endowed with reason. Esp. in rational being, rational creature, rational…

Breath, spirit. Obsolete.

Medicine and Physiology. The (supposed) agent responsible for sensation and movement, originating in the brain and passing to and from the periphery…

Maintaining, supporting, or sustaining life. vital spirit, vital spirits. Cf. spirit, n. 21. Obsolete.

the animating principle of the world; = anima mundi, n. Cf. world-soul n. at world, n. compounds 8.

figurative. The ‘light’ of life.

The animating or vital principle in living things; life force; vital spirit. Also in plural in same sense. Cf. spirit, n. 1a.

applied to various divisions of the soul into three elements, esp. those distinguished in Platonic philosophy as rational, sensitive, and…

Vital force, power, or principle as possessed or manifested by living things (cf. vital, adj. 1); the principle of life; animation.

figurative. ‘Light’ of life. Cf. candle, n. 3b. Obsolete.

The vital, principal, or most necessary part of something. Obsolete.

Vital force or power; vitality. Obsolete.

The state or fact of being an animal; animal nature or life; vital power. Now rare.

Living force, vitality. Obsolete. rare.

In plural, with the. Short for animal spirits: see animal spirit, n. Obsolete. rare.

the spring or source of life; frequently in extended use.

The immaterial principle supposed by the Paracelsians to produce and preside over the activities of the animal and vegetable economy; vital force…

The vital spirit or principle. Obsolete. rare.

Animating force, energy, or spirit; vital nature or quality. Cf. spirituose, adj. Obsolete. rare.

figurative and in figurative contexts. springs of life: that which gives, motivates, or inspires liveliness or an enthusiasm for life.

In the terminology of J. Dolaeus: the (supposed) ruler or ruling principle of the animal spirits (and of the body as a whole), located in the brain.

An immaterial force or principle viewed as present in and animating living things and sustaining their… In singular.

vital spark (†also flame). Cf. spark, n.1 3.

The supposed germinal principle or impulse in which the future characteristics of any nascent existence are implicit.

In special collocations with other Latin words. vis vitae, vital force.

Breathing, respiration; the breath as the sign of life; the life principle inhabiting all animate things. In meditation: a breath, a single…

Universal spirit, soul; spec. (in Sankhya philosophy) the animating principle which, with prakriti and guna, gives rise to the material, sentient…

Life, the soul, the self; the vital principle.

An immaterial force or principle viewed as present in and animating living things and sustaining their… In plural.

figurative and in extended use. The life force, heart, or essence of something; an animating or vital energy. Cf. pulse, n.2 2.

the animating principle which informs the physical world; cf. soul of the world n. at soul, n. phrases 5.

(a) the spirit of worldliness; the spirit of the secular world; (b) the immanent principle underlying or shaping the world, esp. (in Hegelian…

vital energy; = life force n.

(a) vital energy; a force that gives something its vitality or strength; cf. élan vital, n., will to live n. at will, n.1 compounds 3; (b) the…

(in the context of spiritualism and shamanism) the soul of a human or animal that animates the body but can exist and travel separately from it, as…

(a) Philosophy the drive within a being to promote its own existence; a drive to produce and continue the species; (b) the enjoyment of living, the…

A hypothetical vital principle animating living matter, conceived as a tenuous or immaterial substance of which the soul or spirit is composed…

Vital energy; circulating physical life-force, the existence and properties of which are fundamental to the theory and practice of many forms of…

A life force or essence, an animating principle; the inherent quality of something.

In the philosophy of Henri Bergson (1859–1941), a vital impulse or life force, of which we are aware intuitively; spec., an original impetus of…

In the psychoanalytical theory of Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957): a supposed excess sexual energy or life force distributed throughout the universe which…