'animist' originates from French and Latin, specifically the Latin word 'anima', where 'anima' meant 'breath, soul'.

'animist' changed from the French word 'animiste' (and from the noun 'animism' coined in English in the 19th century), ultimately becoming the modern English word 'animist'.

Initially related to the Latin sense of 'breath' or 'soul', the term came to denote a person who believes that souls or spirits inhabit natural things; the core idea shifted from a linguistic root to a religious/anthropological belief.