anim

The root anim comes from two closely related Latin words: anima and animus.

anima originally meant breath — the air that moves in and out of a living body. To the Romans, breath was the most obvious sign that something was alive: a creature that breathed was animate; a thing that did not was just matter. From this physical idea, anima expanded to mean life itself, and then the soul — the invisible spark that breathes life into the body. Its sibling animus leaned toward the mind: spirit, courage, temper, intention.

This single image — breath as the marker of life — branches into the whole family:

- animal is simply anima + -al: "a breathing thing." The most ordinary word in the family is also the most literal — an animal is a being that breathes, as opposed to a plant or a stone.
- animate (anima + -ate, "to make") means to give breath/life to something — which is exactly what cartoonists do when they make drawings move. animation and animated grew out of this.
- inanimate puts in- (not) in front: "having no breath," lifeless — a rock, a chair.

The more interesting members come from animus, the spirit/mind, combined with prefixes that describe what kind of spirit:

- un- here is unus (one), not the negative un-: unanimous = one spirit. When a committee is unanimous, everyone breathes as one — a single shared mind, no dissent. unanimity is the noun.
- magn- (magnus, great): magnanimous = great-souled. A magnanimous person has a spirit big enough to forgive enemies and rise above petty insults. magnanimity is the noun.
- equ- (aequus, even, level): equanimity = an even, level spirit — calmness that does not tip over under stress.
- animosity comes straight from animus in its harsher sense: a hostile spirit, strong ill will toward someone.
- pusillanimous (pusillus, tiny + animus): a tiny-souled person — timid, cowardly.

Notice the pattern: anim is the spirit or breath of life, and the prefix tells you what shape that spirit takes — one (unanimous), great (magnanimous), even (equanimity), or hostile (animosity). Once you see breath behind the root, the whole family lines up.