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Animal spirits

noun

Noun

1
The theorized ‘spirits’ or physiological principles which allowed for sensation and voluntary movement. historical, plural, plural-only
"This is likewiſe evident in ſuch as walke in the night in their ſleep, and doe ſtrange feats: theſe vapours moue the Phantaſie, the Phantaſie the Appetite, which mouing the animall''' ſpirits, cauſeth the body to walke vp and downe, as if they were awake."
2
Liveliness, vivacity, a happy tendency to action. plural, plural-only
"She had high animal spirits, and a sort of natural self-consequence, which the attention of the officers, to whom her uncle's good dinners, and her own easy manners recommended her, had increased into assurance."
3
After Keynes (citation 1936, above), the emotional and intuitive factors that drive business decisions whether to make investment gambles. plural, plural-only
"This flaw exists because the financial system necessary for capitalist vitality and vigor — which translates entrepreneurial animal spirits into effective demand for investment — contains the potential for runaway expansion, powered by an investment boom."

From Middle English spirite animal; equivalent to animal (adjective) + spirits.

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