animate

1 of 2

adjective

an·​i·​mate ˈa-nə-mət How to pronounce animate (audio)
1
: possessing or characterized by life : alive
2
: full of life : animated
3
: of or relating to animal life as opposed to plant life
4
: referring to a living thing
an animate noun
animately adverb
animateness noun

animate

2 of 2

verb

an·​i·​mate ˈa-nə-ˌmāt How to pronounce animate (audio)
animated; animating

transitive verb

1
: to give spirit and support to : encourage
2
a
: to give life to
b
: to give vigor and zest to
3
: to move to action
a criminal animated by greed
4
a
: to make or design in such a way as to create apparently spontaneous lifelike movement
animate a cartoon
b
: to produce in the form of an animated cartoon
animate a story

Did you know?

The Latin word anima meaning “breath, soul” that gave us “animal” has given us other words. The English adjective animate meaning “alive” comes from the Latin verb animare, meaning “to give life to,” which in turn came from anima. A characteristic of animals is their ability to move. When a cartoon is drawn and filmed in such a way that lifelike movement is produced, it is animated. An animated film seems to have a life of its own.

Choose the Right Synonym for animate

quicken, animate, enliven, vivify mean to make alive or lively.

quicken stresses a sudden renewal of life or activity especially in something inert.

the arrival of spring quickens the earth

animate emphasizes the imparting of motion or vitality to what is or might be mechanical or artificial.

happiness animated his conversation

enliven suggests a stimulus that arouses from dullness or torpidity.

enlivened her lectures with humorous anecdotes

vivify implies a freshening or energizing through renewal of vitality.

new blood needed to vivify the dying club

Examples of animate in a Sentence

Adjective The lecture was about ancient worship of animate and inanimate objects. an animate dance routine that will really get the blood pumping Verb The writer's humor animates the novel. The film's very realistic dinosaurs were animated on computers.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Civil rights concerns animate those opposed to more crackdowns; 94 percent of those prosecuted for narcotics charges in the Bronx were Black or Latino. Wesley Parnell, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2023 Her gospel draws on the individual impulse to tinker, prevalent in early America and throughout its history, and joins it with an appreciation for animate objects developed in her five years as a miko, or shrine maiden, at a Shinto temple. Coco Krumme, WIRED, 13 Sep. 2023 The counterintuitive and sinewy motions of snakes, stingrays, and skydivers represent a strange kind of motion that is notoriously hard to simulate, animate, or anticipate. IEEE Spectrum, 3 Sep. 2023 The great couples of the highbrow set animate the book, from Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir to Diana and Lionel Trilling to Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady. Beverly Gage, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2021 Along the way, though, Heard and company animate enough winning moments to make even the creakier passages feel compelling. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2023 James Bullard, as St. Louis Fed president, has often pushed back against some of the conventional macroeconomic models that animate Fed policy. Nick Timiraos, WSJ, 13 July 2023 Nearly every corner of the Playhouse was animate: Mr. Window, Chairry, Floory, Chandelier. Bruce Handy, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2023 The teddy bear cholla cactus, Joshua trees and other flora in the nearby arboretum animate visitors. Mark Eddington, The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 July 2023
Verb
Her wide-ranging curiosity animates her work, and her political commitments anchor it. Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 24 Sep. 2023 The rise of generative AI has animated the tech sector and broader public — becoming the latest buzzword out of Silicon Valley since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT service late last year. Catherine Thorbecke, CNN, 21 Sep. 2023 Although animated, the series grapples with some serious issues. Jasmine Browley, Essence, 21 Sep. 2023 Crisp-soft slices of summer squash animated by garlic-chile oil. Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2023 If that sounds a little far out, recall the child playing with her toys: an intrinsic element of her play is her summoning of life to those toys, seeing them as animated. Time, 20 Sep. 2023 In March 2019, Brenton Tarrant, a white supremacist terrorist animated by these dangerous ideologies and strategies, murdered 51 worshipers in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2023 Several party leaders predicted that even voters who voice ambivalence about Biden will ultimately be animated to vote against the Republican choice, especially if that choice is Trump. Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2023 Nick Saban animated and upset with officials after returning to field following lightning delay. Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 16 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'animate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Verb

Middle English, from Latin animatus, past participle of animare to give life to, from anima breath, soul; akin to Old English ōthian to breathe, Latin animus spirit, Greek anemos wind, Sanskrit aniti he breathes

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of animate was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near animate

Cite this Entry

“Animate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/animate. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.

Kids Definition

animate

1 of 2 adjective
an·​i·​mate ˈan-ə-mət How to pronounce animate (audio)
1
: having life : alive
2
animately adverb

animate

2 of 2 verb
an·​i·​mate ˈan-ə-ˌmāt How to pronounce animate (audio)
animated; animating
1
: to give life to : make alive
2
: to give spirit and vigor to : enliven
3
: to make as an animated cartoon
animate a story
Etymology

Adjective

Middle English animate "alive," from Latin animatus (same meaning), derived from anima "soul, breath" — related to animal see Word History at animal

Word Origin
The same Latin word anima meaning "breath, soul" that gave us animal has given us other words. The English adjective animate meaning "alive" comes from the Latin verb animare meaning "to give life to," which in turn came from anima. A characteristic of animals is their ability to move about. When a cartoon is drawn and filmed in such a way that lifelike movement is produced, we say it is animated. An animated film seems to have a life of its own.

Medical Definition

animate

adjective
an·​i·​mate ˈan-ə-mət How to pronounce animate (audio)
1
: possessing or characterized by life
2
: of or relating to animal life as opposed to plant life

More from Merriam-Webster on animate

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