Latin 'anima' means 'breath' — the ancients defined life itself by respiration, so an animal is 'a breathing thing.'
A living organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and a nervous system, capable of voluntary movement.
From Latin 'animal' (a living being, an animate creature), the neuter form of the adjective 'animālis' meaning 'having breath' or 'living.' This derives from 'anima' (breath, soul, spirit), from the PIE root *h₂enh₁- meaning 'to breathe.' The word entered English through Old French 'animal' in the early fourteenth century, initially used in learned and scientific contexts before gradually
The Latin root 'anima' reveals an ancient equation between breathing and being alive — to the Romans, what made an animal an animal was not movement or sensation but the simple act of drawing breath. Sanskrit 'ātman' (self, soul) descends from the same PIE root, linking the Western concept of 'animal' to the Eastern concept of the self.