The term may also refer to any being imagined as incorporeal or immaterial, such as demons or deities, in Christianity specifically the Holy Spirit experienced by the disciples at Pentecost.

The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning "breath" (compare spiritus asper), but also "soul, courage, vigor", ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European *(s)peis, as opposed to Latin anima and Greek psykhē. The word apparently came into Middle English via Old French. The distinction between soul and spirit developed in the Abrahamic religions: Thus we find Greek ψυχη opposite πνευμα ; Latin anima opposite spiritus; Arabic nafs (نفس) opposite rúħ (روح); Hebrew neshama (נְשָׁמָה nəšâmâh) or nephesh (in Hebrew neshama comes from the root NŠM or "breath") opposite ruach (רוּחַ rûaħ).

English-speakers use the word "spirit" in two related contexts, one metaphysical and the other metaphorical.

In metaphysical terms, "spirit" has acquired a number of meanings:

The metaphorical use of the term likewise groups several related meanings:

See soul and ghost and spiritual for related discussions.

Similar concepts in other languages include Greek pneuma and Sanskrit akasha/atman, see also Prana.

Some languages use a word for "spirit" often closely related (if not synonymous) to "mind". Examples include the German, Geist (related to the English word "ghost") or the French, 'l'esprit'. English versions of the Judaeo-Christian Bible most commonly translate the Hebrew word "ruach" (רוח; "wind") as "the spirit", whose essence is divine (see Holy Spirit and ruach hakodesh). Alternatively, Hebrew texts commonly use the word nephesh. Kabbalists regard nephesh as one of the five parts of the Jewish soul, where nephesh (animal) refers to the physical being and its animal instincts. Similarly, Scandinavian languages, Slavic languages and the Chinese language (qi) use the words for "breath" to express concepts similar to "the spirit".

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