inanimate

[in-an-uh-mit] /ɪnˈæn ə mɪt/
adjective
1.
not animate; lifeless.
2.
spiritless; sluggish; dull.
3.
Linguistics. belonging to a syntactic category or having a semantic feature that is characteristic of words denoting objects, concepts, and beings regarded as lacking perception and volition (opposed to animate).
Origin
1555-65; < Late Latin inanimātus. See in-3, animate
Related forms
inanimately, adverb
inanimateness, inanimation
[in-an-uh-mey-shuh n] /ɪnˌæn əˈmeɪ ʃən/ (Show IPA), noun
Synonyms
1. inorganic, vegetable, mineral; inert, dead. 2. inactive, dormant, torpid.
Examples from the web for inanimate
  • When you learn to program a computer, you acquire a superpower: the ability to make an inanimate object follow your command.
  • They turn structures that can be perceived as inanimate and cold into something really moving.
  • Both alike therefore cause pain in animate substances, and tear asunder and consume the parts in such as are inanimate.
  • Children are comfortable with the idea that inanimate objects can both think and have a personality.
  • It inhabits both humans and animals and can survive in water and on inanimate objects.
  • Viruses inhabit the realm between life and the inanimate, something quite foreign to our traditional world-view.
  • It has nothing to do with, and has nothing to say about, the origins of life from inanimate molecules.
  • We do not know the exact pathway life has taken to emerge from inanimate chemical reactions.
  • Several of them were actions in which the chimps gave living characteristics to an inanimate objects.
  • Viruses spring to life when they find a host to feed on, but otherwise they are as inanimate as a piece of rock.
British Dictionary definitions for inanimate

inanimate

/ɪnˈænɪmɪt/
adjective
1.
lacking the qualities or features of living beings; not animate: inanimate objects
2.
lacking any sign of life or consciousness; appearing dead
3.
lacking vitality; spiritless; dull
Derived Forms
inanimately, adverb
inanimateness, inanimation (ɪnˌænɪˈmeɪʃən) noun
Word Origin and History for inanimate
adj.

early 15c., from Late Latin inanimatus "lifeless," from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + animatus (see animation). The same word in 17c. also was a verb meaning "to infuse with life," from the other in- (see in- (2)).

inanimate in Medicine

inanimate in·an·i·mate (ĭn-ān'ə-mĭt)
adj.
Not having the qualities associated with active, living organisms; not animate.

in·an'i·mate·ness n.