spiritual

B1 Topic:Religion & Belief

Also spelled h-piritual

US /ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/ UK /ˈspɪɹɪtʃʊəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #4512

Meanings

1

adj
Relating to the human spirit or soul rather than physical things.

Meditation gives her a sense of spiritual peace.
2

adj
Relating to religion or sacred matters.

The temple is an important spiritual center for the community.
3

noun
A religious folk song, especially one developed by African Americans in the southern United States.

The choir closed the service with an old spiritual.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · relating to religion or... sacred

Word family

Forms spirituallyspiritualsunspiritual

Derived forms antispiritualantispiritualismantispiritualityaspiritualaspiritualitycyberspiritualecospiritualinterspiritualnonspiritualpanspiritualpseudospiritualpsychospiritual

Related forms spiritous spirituous

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

spiritual bouquet
a card promising prayers or devotional acts on another person's behalf

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts

Etymology

From Middle English spiritual, spirituel, from Old French spirituel, from Late Latin spīrituālis, from Latin spīritus. By surface analysis, spirit + -ual.

spiritual Middle English spirituel Old French spīrituālis la-lat spīritus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Religion & Belief

External links

# spiritual

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈspɪɹɪtʃʊəl/
**Frequency rank:** 4512

## Meanings
1. Relating to the human spirit or soul rather than physical things.
2. Relating to religion or sacred matters.
3. A religious folk song, especially one developed by African Americans in the southern United States.

## Examples
- Meditation gives her a sense of spiritual peace.
- The temple is an important spiritual center for the community.
- The choir closed the service with an old spiritual.

## Derived Forms
- antispiritual
- antispiritualism
- antispirituality
- aspiritual
- aspirituality
- cyberspiritual
- ecospiritual
- interspiritual
- nonspiritual
- panspiritual
- pseudospiritual
- psychospiritual

## Related Forms
- spiritous
- spirituous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: spiritual
- Root: spirituel
- Root: spīrituālis
- Root: spīritus

## Etymology
From Middle English spiritual, spirituel, from Old French spirituel, from Late Latin spīrituālis, from Latin spīritus. By surface analysis, spirit + -ual.

## AI Etymology
Spiritual is from Middle English spiritual, spirituel, from Old French spirituel, from Late Latin spīrituālis, from Latin spīritus. By surface analysis, spirit + -ual. Important forms in the word's history include Middle English spiritual, Old French spirituel, la-lat spīrituālis, Latin spīritus. In current use it includes senses such as Relating to the human spirit or soul rather than physical things and Relating to religion or sacred matters.

## Topics
- Religion & Belief

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