Animal spirits
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 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."
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
From Middle English spirite animal; equivalent to animal (adjective) + spirits.