Other forms: spirituals
Spiritual means to do with the soul rather than the body or possessions. Spiritual life, a spiritual leader, spiritual but not religious.
Spiritual but not religious has become a standard answer on surveys, and it marks a real distinction — belief or practice without an institution. A spiritual is also a noun: the sacred songs of enslaved African Americans. Note the Latin spiritus, breath.
1adjectivespiritualTo do with the soul rather than the body.
“For her, walking in the mountains is a deeply spiritual experience.”
2nounsacredA sacred song of enslaved African Americans.
“The choir sang a moving spiritual that had been passed down since the days of slavery.”
spiritual is a quality of the soul.
Latin spiritualis comes from spiritus, breath or spirit, from spirare, to breathe. Inspire shares the breath.
Latin
spīritālis
Old French
spirituel
Middle English
spiritual
English, today
spiritual
From Middle English spiritual, from Old French spirituel, from Latin spīritālis. From Middle English spiritual, spirituel, from Old French spirituel, from Latin spīrituālis, from Latin spīritus. by surface analysis, en + spirit + ual.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA