animate
verb /ˈanɪmeɪt 
/ [with object]
/ [with object]1Bring to life: Prometheus stole fire from heaven to animate his clay men...
- What strange powers animate the ancient songs brought by the settlers of Founderston from their distant island home along with the bones of Lazarus?
- But all are animated by color and line moving over them.
- What is certain is that any such withdrawal would betray the religious concepts of the state which animate the faith-based initiative.
1.1Give inspiration, encouragement, or renewed vigour to: she has animated the government with a sense of political direction...
- His inspired perspective has animated prophets and artists and dreamers down through the centuries.
- It is the breath of life and the inward light that animates the human body and inspires the human soul.
- Perhaps it is hardships and the thrill of risk that animate life most fully, and perhaps it is freedom that binds.
Synonyms
enliven, vitalize, give (new) life to, breathe (new) life into, energize, invigorate, revive, vivify, liven up, light up, cheer up, gladden;
encourage, hearten, inspire, exhilarate, thrill, excite, fire, arouse, rouse, stir, stimulate, galvanize, electrify
informal buck up, pep up, give someone a buzz, ginger up
North American informal light a fire under
rare inspirit
2Give (a film or character) the appearance of movement using animation techniques: much-loved characters have been animated in this Franco-Canadian co-production...
- Most people know Disney's Snow White as the first animated feature film.
- In some ways Pocahontas is a natural extension of previous Disney animated films like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.
- I liked Tarzan, but there hasn't been a truly great Disney animated film that didn't come from Pixar since The Lion King.
adjective /ˈanɪmət /
/Alive or having life: gods in a wide variety of forms, both animate and inanimate...
- But equally essential to making sense of the chaos of the world and our place in it, is our ability to distinguish between objects and different kinds of things, so living or dead, animate or inanimate.
- Despite this similarity, there are still elemental differences between being alive and deceased, and between the animate and inanimate.
- The ‘agent’ in question is merely an organic part of A's body and so not a rational agent or even an ‘animate’ agent, in the sense in which an entire living organism is an animate agent.
Synonyms
living, alive, live, breathing, sentient, conscious;
organic
archaic quick
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin animat- 'instilled with life', from the verb animare, from anima 'life, soul'.