1820, "temper" (usually in a hostile sense), from Latin animus "rational soul, mind, life, mental powers; courage, desire," related to anima "living being, soul, mind, disposition, passion, courage, anger, spirit, feeling," from PIE root *ane- "to blow, to breathe" (cf. Greek anemos "wind," Sanskrit aniti "breathes," Old Irish anal, Welsh anadl "breath," Old Irish animm "soul," Gothic uzanan "to exhale," Old Norse anda "to breathe," Old English eðian "to breathe," Old Church Slavonic vonja "smell, breath," Armenian anjn "soul"). It has no plural. As a term in Jungian psychology for the masculine component of a feminine personality, it dates from 1923.
animus an·i·mus (ān'ə-məs)
n.
An animating or energizing spirit.
Intention to do something; disposition.
A spirit of active hostility; ill will.
In Jungian psychology, the masculine inner personality as present in the unconscious of the female.
["Constraint-Based Animation: The Implementation of Temporal Constraints in the Animus System", R. Duisberg, PhD Thesis U Washington 1986].
(1995-11-24)