Word of the Day
Friday, October 13, 2000
animus
\AN-uh-muhs\ , noun;
1.
Basic attitude or animating spirit; disposition; intention.
2.
A feeling of ill will; animosity.
3.
In Jungian psychology, the inner masculine part of the female personality [cf.
anima].
Quotes:
The seemingly anti-intellectual animus of the syllabus [the Syllabus of Errors, issued by Pope Pius IX in 1864] also disillusioned some converts, among them Thomas Arnold, who reverted to Anglicanism when he learned of it.
-- Patrick Allitt, Catholic Converts
It is important to note also that part of Kipling's animus against the Christian missionaries in India arose from his indignation at their destructive puritanism.
-- Christopher Hitchens, "A Man of Permanent Contradictions", The Atlantic, June 2002
To teach the poor chump a lesson, the media mogul steals the burglar's lucky ring, an act of scornful hauteur that brings out the animus in Dortmunder.
-- Marilyn Stasio, review of M Is for Malice, by Sue Grafton, New York Times, November 10, 1996
Origin:
Animus is from Latin animus, "soul, character, disposition."
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