was thinking the other day about how "qi" / "ki" / "prana" all mean both "breath" and "life / spirit / soul" and how i didn't know a similar word in english
but there *is* a similar word in latin and it's "anima"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anima#Lat
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"anima" as in "animal" (something with life) but also as in "animated" (endowed with life). i got here from feeling weird about the etymology of "creature" - it literally means "a created thing" so implies the existence of a creator, and i was wondering about other synonyms
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oh, there also is a similar word in english itself and it’s “spirit,” idk why i didn’t check this
en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/spirit
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the etymology of “soul” made me laugh like a crazy person for a solid minute it was just so funny to me that it was all just words that mean “soul”
en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/soul
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was reminded that “ruach” in hebrew also means both “breath” and “soul”. great word, 10/10 word overall
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ayyy and even "atman," they don't stop comin'
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Replying to @QiaochuYuan
See also: "atman" in Sanskrit, very similar
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jeez i missed this earlier but even "pneuma," why are there multiple terms like this in the same language 🧐 (hmm wait okay maybe it's because apparently the root of "psyche" means "blow" but not "breath"?)
twitter.com/acidshill/stat
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Replying to @QiaochuYuan
pneuma as well
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aw snap this is real interesting thanks!
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Also “ruh” in Arabic and “pneuma” in Greek (from which we derive both pneumatic as in tires, and pneumonia as in lungs). The association of air and spirit or soul, the breath of life, is ancient.