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spirit [spirit 词源字典]: spirit: [13] Latin spīritus originally meant ‘breath’: it was derived from the verb spīrāre ‘breathe’ (source of English aspire [15], conspire [14], expire [15], inspire [14], perspire [17], respire [14], transpire [16], etc), which probably came ultimately from the prehistoric Indo-European base *speis- or *peis-, imitative of the sound of blowing or breathing out (source also of Old Church Slavonic piskati ‘whistle’, Serbo-Croat pistati ‘hiss’, and Old Norse físa ‘fart’).

But in the Augustan period it gradually began to take over as the word for ‘soul’ from anima (source of English animal, animate, etc), which itself originally denoted ‘breath’, and in Christian Latin writings it was the standard term used.
=> aspire, conspire, expire, inspire, perspire, respire, transpire[spirit etymology, spirit origin, 英语词源]
dispirit (v.): 1640s; see dis- + spirit (n.). Related: Dispirited; dispiriting.
free-spirited (adj.): also freespirited, 1670s, from free (adj.) + -spirited.
mean-spirited (adj.): also meanspirited, 1690s, from mean (adj.1) + -spirited. Ancient Greek had the same image in mikropsykhos.
-spirited: "having a spirit (of a specified type)," from spirit (n.).
spirit (n.): mid-13c., "animating or vital principle in man and animals," from Anglo-French spirit, Old French espirit "spirit, soul" (12c., Modern French esprit) and directly from Latin spiritus "a breathing (respiration, and of the wind), breath; breath of a god," hence "inspiration; breath of life," hence "life;" also "disposition, character; high spirit, vigor, courage; pride, arrogance," related to spirare "to breathe," from PIE *(s)peis- "to blow" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic pisto "to play on the flute").

Meaning "supernatural immaterial creature; angel, demon; an apparition, invisible corporeal being of an airy nature" is attested from mid-14c.; from late 14c. as "a ghost" (see ghost (n.)). From c. 1500 as "a nature, character"; sense of "essential principle of something" (in a non-theological context, as in Spirit of St. Louis) is attested from 1680s, common after 1800; Spirit of '76 in reference to the qualities that sparked and sustained the American Revolution is attested by 1797 in William Cobbett's "Porcupine's Gazette and Daily Advertiser."

From late 14c. in alchemy as "volatile substance; distillate;" from c. 1500 as "substance capable of uniting the fixed and the volatile elements of the philosopher's stone." Hence spirits "volatile substance;" sense narrowed to "strong alcoholic liquor" by 1670s. This also is the sense in spirit level (1768). Also from mid-14c. as "character, disposition; way of thinking and feeling, state of mind; source of a human desire;" in Middle English freedom of spirit meant "freedom of choice." From late 14c. as "divine substance, divine mind, God;" also "Christ" or His divine nature; "the Holy Ghost; divine power;" also, "extension of divine power to man; inspiration, a charismatic state; charismatic power, especially of prophecy." Also "essential nature, essential quality." From 1580s in metaphoric sense "animation, vitality."

According to Barnhart and OED, originally in English mainly from passages in Vulgate, where the Latin word translates Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruah. Distinction between "soul" and "spirit" (as "seat of emotions") became current in Christian terminology (such as Greek psykhe vs. pneuma, Latin anima vs. spiritus) but "is without significance for earlier periods" [Buck]. Latin spiritus, usually in classical Latin "breath," replaces animus in the sense "spirit" in the imperial period and appears in Christian writings as the usual equivalent of Greek pneuma. Spirit-rapping is from 1852.
spirit (v.): 1590s, "to make more active or energetic" (of blood, alcohol, etc.), from spirit (n.). The meaning "carry off or away secretly" (as though by supernatural agency) is first recorded 1660s. Related: Spirited; spiriting.
spirited (adj.): "lively, energetic," 1590s, from spirit (v.) in its older sense. Milton uses it to mean "possessed by a spirit." Related: Spiritedly; spiritedness.
spiritless (adj.): 1560s, "dead," from spirit (n.) + -less. Meaning "having no vigor or vivacity" is from 1650s. Related: Spiritlessly.
spiritual (adj.): c. 1300, "of or concerning the spirit" (especially in religious aspects), from Old French spirituel, esperituel (12c.) or directly from a Medieval Latin ecclesiastical use of Latin spiritualis "of or pertaining to breath, breathing, wind, or air; pertaining to spirit," from spiritus "of breathing, of the spirit" (see spirit (n.)). Meaning "of or concerning the church" is attested from mid-14c. Related: Spiritually. An Old English word for "spiritual" was godcundlic.
In avibus intellige studia spiritualia, in animalibus exercitia corporalia [Richard of St. Victoror (1110-1173): "Watch birds to understand how spiritual things move, animals to understand physical motion." - E.P.]
spiritual (n.): "African-American religious song," 1866, from spiritual (adj.). Earlier "a spiritual thing" (1660s).
spiritual-minded (adj.): 1526 (Tindale), from spiritual (adj.) + minded. Related: Spiritual-mindedness.
spiritualism (n.): 1796, "advocacy of a spiritual view" (opposed to materialism), from spiritual + -ism. Table-rapping sense is from 1853.
spiritualist (n.): 1852, "one who believes in the ability of the living to communicate with the dead via a medium," from spiritual + -ist (also see spirit (n.)). Earlier (1640s) "one with regard for spiritual things." Related Spiritualistic.
Every two or three years the Americans have a paroxysm of humbug -- ... at the present time it is Spiritual-ism. [J.Dix, "Transatlantic Tracings," 1853]
spirituality (n.): early 15c., "the clergy," also "ecclesiastical property; things pertaining to the Church," from Middle French spiritualite, from Late Latin spiritualitatem (nominative spiritualitas), from Latin spiritualis (see spiritual). Meaning "quality of being spiritual" is from c. 1500; seldom-used sense of "fact or condition of being a spirit" is from 1680s. An earlier form was spiritualty (late 14c.).

English is blessed with multiple variant forms of many words. But it has made scant use of them; for every pair historic/historical; realty/reality, or luxuriant/luxurious there is a spiritualty/spirituality or a specialty/speciality, with two distinct forms, two senses requiring differentiation, hundreds of years gone by, and but little progress made in in sorting them out.
spiritualize (v.): 1630s, from spiritual (adj.) + -ize, or from French spiritualiser. Related: Spiritualize; spiritualizing; spiritualization.
spiritualty (n.): late 14c., "spirituality, quality of being spiritual;" from c. 1400 as "the clergy," from Old French espiritualte, espirituaute, variants of spiritualite, from Late Latin spiritualitatem (see spirituality).
spirituous (adj.): 1590s, "spirited, animated," from Latin spiritus (see spirit (n.)) + -ous, or else from Middle French spiritueux (16c.), from Vulgar Latin *spirituosus, from Latin spiritus. Meaning "containing alcohol" is from 1680s. Related: Spiritously; spiritousness.