spirits

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
spirit/ˈspɪrɪt/

▶noun

• 1 the non-physical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character.

  ■ this regarded as surviving after the death of the body, often manifested as a ghost.

  ■ a supernatural being.

• 2 the prevailing or typical quality or mood: the nation's egalitarian spirit.

  ■ a person identified with their role or most prominent quality: he was a leading spirit in the conference.

  ■ (spirits) a person's mood.

• 3 courage, energy, and determination.

• 4 the real meaning or intention of something as opposed to its strict verbal interpretation.

• 5 chiefly Brit. strong distilled alcoholic drink such as rum.

  ■ [with modifier] a volatile liquid, especially a fuel, prepared by distillation: aviation spirit.

  ■ archaic a solution of volatile components extracted from something: spirits of turpentine.

• 6 archaic a highly refined substance or fluid thought to govern vital phenomena.

▶verb (spirits, spiriting, spirited)

• 1 (usu. spirit something away) convey rapidly and secretly.

• 2 (spirit someone up) archaic animate or cheer up someone.

– phrases
in (or in the) spirit in thought or intention though not physically.
when the spirit moves one when one feels inclined to do something. [a phr. orig. in Quaker use, with ref. to the Holy Spirit.]

– origin ME: from Anglo-Norman Fr., from L. spiritus ‘breath, spirit’, from spirare ‘breathe’.