Definitions

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

  • adjective Of, relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; not material; supernatural.
  • adjective Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul.
  • adjective Not concerned with material or worldly things.
  • adjective Of or belonging to a religion; sacred.
  • noun A religious folk song of African-American origin.
  • noun A work composed in imitation of such a song.
  • noun Religious, spiritual, or ecclesiastical matters.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of, pertaining to, or being spirit in the sense of something between soul and body, or of a disembodied soul or a supernatural immaterial being.
  • Pertaining to the soul, or to the higher endowments of the mind, especially when considered as a divine influence.
  • Pertaining to the soul or its affections as influenced by the Divine Spirit; proceeding from or controlled and inspired by the Holy Spirit; pure; holy; sacred; divine.
  • Relating to sacred things; not lay or temporal; pertaining or belonging to the church; ecclesiastical.
  • The spiritual nature: opposed to physical man.
  • Synonyms Spirited, etc. (see spirituous), immaterial.
  • noun A spiritual thing.
  • noun A spiritual person.

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

  • noun A spiritual function, office, or affair. See spirituality, 2.
  • adjective Consisting of spirit; not material; incorporeal.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the intellectual and higher endowments of the mind; mental; intellectual.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the moral feelings or states of the soul, as distinguished from the external actions; reaching and affecting the spirits.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the soul or its affections as influenced by the Spirit; controlled and inspired by the divine Spirit; proceeding from the Holy Spirit; pure; holy; divine; heavenly-minded; -- opposed to carnal.
  • adjective Not lay or temporal; relating to sacred things; ecclesiastical.
  • adjective (Eccl.) See the Note under Jesuit.
  • adjective (Eccl. Law) an ecclesiastical court, or a court having jurisdiction in ecclesiastical affairs; a court held by a bishop or other ecclesiastic.

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

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul
  • adjective Of or pertaining to God or a place of worship; sacred
  • adjective Of or pertaining to spirits; supernatural
  • noun A Christian religious song, especially one in an African-American style, or a similar non-religious song.
  • noun Any spiritual function, office, or affair.

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

  • adjective concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church
  • adjective concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul
  • adjective resembling or characteristic of a phantom
  • noun a kind of religious song originated by Blacks in the southern United States
  • adjective lacking material body or form or substance

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French spirituel, from Latin spīrituālis, of breathing, spiritual, from spīritus, breath; see spirit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

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Examples

  • But, given that it does not seem to be true that terrible terminal illnesses more commonly fall upon those in bad spiritual health than upon those of good character, let alone that they fall only upon the former, this ˜spiritual chemotherapy™ view seems quite hopeless.

    The Problem of Evil Tooley, Michael 2009

  • Of such Peter says: “ye also, as lively stones, are built up _a spiritual house_, a holy priesthood, to offer up _spiritual sacrifices_ acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

    Amusement: A Force in Christian Training Marvin Richardson Vincent 1878

  • _spiritual_ idea, we have the surest proof of a spiritual object; nor is this the less certain, though we perceive not the assimilant.

    Lectures on Art Washington Allston 1811

  • When people hear the term "spiritual sex," a whole gamut of inaccurate notions and associations may leap to mind.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Suzie Heumann 2012

  • When people hear the term "spiritual sex," a whole gamut of inaccurate notions and associations may leap to mind.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Suzie Heumann 2012

  • When people hear the term "spiritual sex," a whole gamut of inaccurate notions and associations may leap to mind.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Suzie Heumann 2012

  • When people hear the term "spiritual sex," a whole gamut of inaccurate notions and associations may leap to mind.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Suzie Heumann 2012

  • When people hear the term "spiritual sex," a whole gamut of inaccurate notions and associations may leap to mind.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Suzie Heumann 2012

  • When people hear the term "spiritual sex," a whole gamut of inaccurate notions and associations may leap to mind.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Suzie Heumann 2012

  • When, over the years, I've causally discussed "religion" with devoutly religious people, they've seemed to seamlessly accept my use of the word "spiritual" -- though, whether they've instantly replaced their own terms when I say "spirit" they think "Jesus" I don't know for sure.

    Loren-Paul Caplin: Religious vs. Spiritual: Semantics Or Neurotics? Loren-Paul Caplin 2011

Comments

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  • The word "spirituality" encompasses wide range of meanings and therefor has multiple uses. This can cause miscommunication based on each person's understood definition and the context in which the word is used.

    June 25, 2016