spiritus
(ˈspɪrɪtʊs)
[L., = breath, aspiration, spirit.]
1. Gr. Gram. = breathing vbl. n. 9; spiritus asper: see asper n.1; spiritus lenis (ˈliːnɪs), smooth breathing; the sign (') placed over an initial vowel to show that it is not aspirated.
| [1470 Priscianus Grammatici (1855) I. ii. 51 In dictione tenor certus, absque ea incertus, non potest tamen sine eo esse. Similiter spiritus asper vel lenis.] 1867 Max Müller Chips from German Workshop II. 87 Sanskrit v is generally represented in Greek by the Digamma, or the spiritus lenis. 1878 W. G. Rutherford First Gr. Gram. 3 This sign ({nfasper}) is called spiritus asper, or rough breathing. 1888 King & Cookson Princ. Sound & Inflexion Gr. & Latin viii. 171 An initial i̯ becomes the spiritus asper, sometimes changed to spiritus lenis. 1936 G. K. Zipf Psycho-Biol. of Lang. iii. 84 In Greek..the aspiration of the first aspirate was lost, even though the first aspirate was only an h (spiritus asper), that is, a phoneme which consisted exclusively of the aspiration. 1948 D. Diringer Alphabet viii. 458 By adopting this system of rough and smooth breathing (spiritus asper and spiritus lenis) for the vowel sounds,..the Greek alphabet helped to preserve flexibility in the Greek speech. 1976 Archivum Linguisticum VII. 170 Thus Schmalstieg does not give a clear explanation of..other initial aspirations like the spiritus asper in Greek. |
2. spiritus rector (ˈrɛktɔː(r)), a ruling or directing spirit.
| 1911 W. James Some Probl. Philos. i. 16 Thus a ‘spiritus rector’ would be a metaphysical,—a ‘principle of attraction’ a theological,—and a ‘law of the squares’ would be a positive theory of the planetary movements. 1935 A. Revusky Jews in Palestine xii. 202 The leader and spiritus rector of this movement, Vladimir Jabotinsky. 1942 D. D. Runes Dict. Philos. 300/1 Spiritus rector,..some sort of subtle natural force in corporeal beings. The alchemists applied the expression to some substance..said to be capable of transmuting metals into gold, and also an elixir which was supposed to prolong life indefinitely. 1959 R. F. C. Hull tr. Jung's Aion in Coll. Wks. IX. 167 It [sc. the self]..is older than the ego, and..is the spiritus rector of our fate. 1977 Times 20 Dec. 13/6 It has often been reported that the international oil companies were the real spiritus rector for the explosion of oil prices during the winter of 1973–74. 1980 Encounter May 35/1 More than fifteen years ago he was the spiritus rector of the European Journal of Sociology. |