Soul vs. Spirit — What's the Difference?

A person's emotional or moral energy.

The animating force within living beings.

The subject of many religious beliefs and practices.

Courage, determination, or enthusiasm.

In many religious, philosophical, and mythological traditions, the soul is the incorporeal essence of a living being. Soul or psyche (Ancient Greek: ψυχή psykhḗ, of ψύχειν psýkhein, "to breathe", cf.

Often associated with breath or life force.

The spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.

The non-physical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character; the soul

Emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance

The prevailing or typical quality, mood, or attitude of a person, group, or period of time

The essence or embodiment of a specified quality

Strong distilled alcoholic drink such as brandy, whisky, gin, or rum.

A part of humans regarded as immaterial, immortal, separable from the body at death, capable of moral judgment, and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.

A highly refined substance or fluid thought to govern vital phenomena.

This part of a human when disembodied after death.

Convey rapidly and secretly

In Aristotelian philosophy, an animating or vital principle inherent in living things and endowing them in various degrees with the potential to grow and reproduce, to move and respond to stimuli (as in the case of animals), and to think rationally (as in the case of humans).

A force or principle believed to animate living beings.

A human

A force or principle believed to animate humans and often to endure after departing from the body of a person at death; the soul.

A person considered as the embodiment of an intangible quality; a personification

Spirit The Holy Spirit.

A person's emotional or moral nature

An angel or demon.

The central or integral part; the vital core

A being inhabiting or embodying a particular place, object, or natural phenomenon.

A sense of emotional strength or spiritual vitality held to derive from black and especially African American cultural experience, expressed in areas such as language, social customs, religion, and music.

A fairy or sprite.

Strong, deeply felt emotion conveyed by a speaker, performer, or artist

The part of a human associated with the mind, will, and feelings

Soul music.

The essential nature of a person or group.

The spirit or essence of a person usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and personality, often believed to live on after the person's death.

A person as characterized by a stated quality

The spirit or essence of anything.

An inclination or tendency of a specified kind

Life, energy, vigor.

A pervasive or essential attitude, quality, or principle

(music) Soul music.

An attitude marked by enthusiasm, energy, or courage

A person, especially as one among many.

Spirits A mood or emotional state

An individual life.

Strong loyalty or dedication

(math) A kind of submanifold involved in the soul theorem of Riemannian geometry.

The actual though unstated sense or significance of something

To endow with a soul or mind.

Often spirits (used with a sing. verb) An alcohol solution of an essential or volatile substance.

To beg on All Soul's Day.

Spirits An alcoholic beverage, especially distilled liquor.

(obsolete) To afford suitable sustenance.

To carry off mysteriously or secretly

Sole.

To impart courage, animation, or determination to; inspirit.

By or for African-Americans, or characteristic of their culture; as, soul music; soul newspapers; soul food.

The soul of a person or other creature.

To afford suitable sustenance.

A supernatural being, often but not exclusively without physical form; ghost, fairy, angel.

To indue with a soul; to furnish with a soul or mind.

Enthusiasm.

The spiritual, rational, and immortal part in man; that part of man which enables him to think, and which renders him a subject of moral government; - sometimes, in distinction from the higher nature, or spirit, of man, the so-called animal soul, that is, the seat of life, the sensitive affections and phantasy, exclusive of the voluntary and rational powers; - sometimes, in distinction from the mind, the moral and emotional part of man's nature, the seat of feeling, in distinction from intellect; - sometimes, the intellect only; the understanding; the seat of knowledge, as distinguished from feeling. In a more general sense, "an animating, separable, surviving entity, the vehicle of individual personal existence."

The manner or style of something.

The seat of real life or vitality; the source of action; the animating or essential part.

A volatile liquid, such as alcohol. The plural form spirits is a generic term for distilled alcoholic beverages.

The leader; the inspirer; the moving spirit; the heart; as, the soul of an enterprise; an able general is the soul of his army.

Energy; ardour.

Energy; courage; spirit; fervor; affection, or any other noble manifestation of the heart or moral nature; inherent power or goodness.

One who is vivacious or lively; one who evinces great activity or peculiar characteristics of mind or temper.

A human being; a person; - a familiar appellation, usually with a qualifying epithet; as, poor soul.

Temper or disposition of mind; mental condition or disposition; intellectual or moral state.

A pure or disembodied spirit.

(obsolete) Air set in motion by breathing; breath; hence, sometimes, life itself.

A perceived shared community and awareness among African-Americans.

(obsolete) A rough breathing; an aspirate, such as the letter h; also, a mark denoting aspiration.

Soul music.

Intent; real meaning; opposed to the letter, or formal statement.

The immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life

Any of the four substances: sulphur, sal ammoniac, quicksilver, and arsenic (or, according to some, orpiment).

A human being;

(dyeing) Stannic chloride.

Deep feeling or emotion

To carry off, especially in haste, secrecy, or mystery.

The human embodiment of something;

Sometimes followed by up: to animate with vigour; to excite; to encourage; to inspirit.

A secular form of gospel that was a major Black musical genre in the 1960s and 1970s;

Air set in motion by breathing; breath; hence, sometimes, life itself.

The immaterial essence of an individual.

A rough breathing; an aspirate, as the letter h; also, a mark to denote aspiration; a breathing.

The moral or emotional nature of a being.

Life, or living substance, considered independently of corporeal existence; an intelligence conceived of apart from any physical organization or embodiment; vital essence, force, or energy, as distinct from matter.

The core of human consciousness and identity.

The intelligent, immaterial and immortal part of man; the soul, in distinction from the body in which it resides; the agent or subject of vital and spiritual functions, whether spiritual or material.

Specifically, a disembodied soul; the human soul after it has left the body.

Any supernatural being, good or bad; an apparition; a specter; a ghost; also, sometimes, a sprite,; a fairy; an elf.

Energy, vivacity, ardor, enthusiasm, courage, etc.

One who is vivacious or lively; one who evinces great activity or peculiar characteristics of mind or temper; as, a ruling spirit; a schismatic spirit.

Temper or disposition of mind; mental condition or disposition; intellectual or moral state; - often in the plural; as, to be cheerful, or in good spirits; to be downhearted, or in bad spirits.

Intent; real meaning; - opposed to the letter, or to formal statement; also, characteristic quality, especially such as is derived from the individual genius or the personal character; as, the spirit of an enterprise, of a document, or the like.

Tenuous, volatile, airy, or vapory substance, possessed of active qualities.

Any liquid produced by distillation; especially, alcohol, the spirits, or spirit, of wine (it having been first distilled from wine): - often in the plural.

Rum, whisky, brandy, gin, and other distilled liquors having much alcohol, in distinction from wine and malt liquors.

A solution in alcohol of a volatile principle. Cf. Tincture.

Any one of the four substances, sulphur, sal ammoniac, quicksilver, or arsenic (or, according to some, orpiment).

Stannic chloride. See under Stannic.

To animate with vigor; to excite; to encourage; to inspirit; as, civil dissensions often spirit the ambition of private men; - sometimes followed by up.

To convey rapidly and secretly, or mysteriously, as if by the agency of a spirit; to kidnap; - often with away, or off.

The vital principle or animating force within living things

The general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people;

A fundamental emotional and activating principle determining one's character

Any incorporeal supernatural being that can become visible (or audible) to human beings

The state of a person's emotions (especially with regard to pleasure or dejection);

The intended meaning of a communication

Animation and energy in action or expression;

An inclination or tendency of a certain kind;

Infuse with spirit;

A supernatural being or essence.

The intangible essence of something.

While often used interchangeably, they have distinct meanings, especially in religious contexts.

They address profound questions about existence, purpose, and afterlife.

It often refers to matters concerning the spirit, religious matters, or a connection to the divine.

Views vary, but many religions see the soul as an individual's eternal essence.

No, spirit can also refer to one's mood, character, or vitality.

This is debated; some believe animals have souls, while others reserve this concept for humans.

Many believe the soul is eternal, while the spirit is a temporary life force.

Generally, the soul is considered intangible and beyond physical comprehension.

Not always; spirits can be seen as good, evil, or neutral depending on the context.

Views vary, including beliefs in reincarnation, heaven, or merging with a universal consciousness.