animatism

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

animate +‎ -ism. Originally coined by British anthropologist Robert Marett to refer to "a belief in a generalized, impersonal power over which people have some measure of control".

Noun[edit]

animatism (countable and uncountable, plural animatisms)

  1. (anthropology) The belief that everything is pervaded by a life force giving each inanimate object a consciousness or personality, but not a soul as in animism.

Translations[edit]