inanimate
/ˌɪˈnænəmət/ih-NA-nuh-muht
/ˌɪˈnænəmət/ih-NA-nuh-muht
Meaningnot alive
Common meaning: not alive
Other meanings: showing no sign of life
- inin, into; (before adjectives) not
- animthe breath of life; soulLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 120 · scan
- ateverb or adjective ending: to make, having
‘in, into’ + ‘the breath of life’ → inanimate
Journey through time
- Latininanimatus‘lifeless’source
- Englishinanimate‘not alive’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin anima ‘the breath of life’.
Roots
- anima, -ae / animus, -ī Latin “the breath of life; soul”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app