inanimatus

Inanimatus is a Latin adjective meaning lifeless or inanimate. It derives from in- “not” and anima “soul” or life, and historically stood opposite animatus, meaning living or animated. The term appeared in scholastic, philosophical, and natural-historical Latin texts to distinguish things possessing life or a soul from those without.

Today inanimatus is primarily of interest to scholars of Latin language and early science; it is not a standard term in modern biology or taxonomy. In contemporary usage, the English equivalent “inanimate” is preferred, and in Latin studies the word is encountered mainly in glossaries, translations, or discussions of medieval debates on vitality and soul. In linguistics and philosophy, the classifier is sometimes referenced when describing discussions of animacy, but the usage is literary-historical rather than technical.