Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The characteristics or nature of an animal.
  • noun Animals considered as a group; the animal kingdom.
  • noun The animal instincts of humans as distinct from their spiritual nature.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state of being an animal; animal existence or nature in man; the animal as opposed to the spiritual side of human nature.
  • noun In physiology, the aggregate of those vital phenomena which characterize animals. See vegetality.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Animal existence or nature.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The nature of an animal
  • noun The animal kingdom
  • noun Any characteristic of animality

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the physical (or animal) side of a person as opposed to the spirit or intellect

Etymologies

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Examples

  • All my days had been passed in comparative ignorance of the animality of man.

    Chapter 12 2010

  • It's sexy and dark, with a lingering floral overtone and a subtle animality that will undoubtedly prompt people to ask "Mmm, what are you wearing?"

    All I Want for Christmas... Tina Gaudoin 2011

  • In a world that can sometimes be disgusting, we evolved an upper tier of emotional longing -- the aspiration for purity -- to keep us balanced in this satyricon of carnal delights where animality beckons and frequently wins.

    Mark Matousek: Why We Don't Need God to Be Good (and What Religious Folk Don't Want You to Know) Mark Matousek 2011

  • In a world that can sometimes be disgusting, we evolved an upper tier of emotional longing -- the aspiration for purity -- to keep us balanced in this satyricon of carnal delights where animality beckons and frequently wins.

    Mark Matousek: Why We Don't Need God to Be Good (and What Religious Folk Don't Want You to Know) Mark Matousek 2011

  • She was not frightened, but appalled, rather, at the human animality of it.

    Chapter 25 2010

  • Scientists, philosophers and quite a few toilers in the humanities believe—and would have the rest of us believe—that nothing fundamental separates humanity from animality.

    Rethinking Thinking Raymond Tallis 2011

  • Other artists can do the muscles and monsters but none capture the physical presence and brute animality of Howard's characters the way Frazetta does.

    MIND MELD: The Most Memorable SF/F Book Covers 2009

  • The God, one supposes, didn't "become flesh" in order to extricate our human persons from our bodies, but to infuse (maybe to re-infuse) our mere animality with life-bearing spirit.

    Scott Cairns: Art and the Meaning of Creation 2010

  • The God, one supposes, didn't "become flesh" in order to extricate our human persons from our bodies, but to infuse (maybe to re-infuse) our mere animality with life-bearing spirit.

    Scott Cairns: Art and the Meaning of Creation 2010

  • Le Pont de l'Arc-en-ciel = The Rainbow Bridge (fictional place over which animals go after death); le petit animal à moustaches = the little whiskered animal (the cat); l'animalité (f) = animality; le partage (m) = sharing.

    guetter - French Word-A-Day 2008

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