Spiritual Meaning
/ˈspɪɹɪtʃʊəl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf or pertaining to the spirit or the soul.
adjOf or pertaining to God or a place of worship; sacred, pure; (Christianity, specifically) inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Sentence Examples
The LDP needs a spiritual cleansing.
They gave him both material and spiritual support.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the silent meditation retreat, she felt a deep ____ connection to the universe.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Many people find ____ peace through daily meditation or by spending quiet time in nature's beauty.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys-der.? Latin spīrō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin spīritus Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Late Latin spīrituālisder. Old French spirituelbor. Middle English spiritual English spiritual From Middle English spiritual, spirituel, from Old French spirituel, from Late Latin spīrituālis, from Latin spīritus. By surface analysis, spirit + -ual.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Brethren, if a man bee ouertaken in a fault: yee which are spirituall, restore such a one in the spirit of meeknesse, considering thy selfe least thou also be tempted."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Galatians 6:1:
"I suppose that’s not surprising, given the spiritual milieu in which I grew up. My mother gasped in sorrow at any news of a bombing in Israel and appropriately “oy veyed” when a Jew was accused of a crime, but she couldn’t tell you what the Shabbat blessing meant."
— 2019 June 18, Debra Jacobs, “I Didn’t Believe in God. Then I Had Kids.”, in Kveller, archived from the original on 19 Mar 2025:
"Despite personal schisms and differences in spiritual experience, there is a very coherent theology of Snape shared between the wives. To examine this manifestation of religious fandom, I will first discuss the canon scepticism and anti-Rowling sentiment that helps to contextualise the wider belief in Snape as a character who extends beyond book and film."
— 2014 March 3, Zoe Alderton, “‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom”, in Religions, volume 5, number 1, MDPI, →DOI, archived from the original on 20 Dec 2014, pages 219–257:
"It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 15:44:
"He assigns supremacy to the pope in spirituals, and to the emperor in temporals."
— a. 1880, James Russell Lowell, Dante:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the silent meditation retreat, she felt a deep ____ connection to the universe.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Many people find ____ peace through daily meditation or by spending quiet time in nature's beauty.