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élan vital

noun
/eɪˈlɑn viˈtɑl/

Etymology

An unadapted borrowing from French élan vital (“life force”, literally “vital impetus or force”), coined by Henri Bergson in 1907.

  1. derived from élan vital — “life force”

Definitions

  1. The life force or vital principle posited in the philosophy of Henri Bergson

    The life force or vital principle posited in the philosophy of Henri Bergson; any mysterious or creative vital principle.

    • Progress was a labyrinth. . . people plunging blindly in and then rushing wildly back, shouting that they had found it. . . the invisible king—the élan vital—the principle of evolution. . .
    • She turned astonished blue eyes towards Mr. Wimbush, then let them fall on to the seething mass of élan vital that fermented in the sty.
    • Electricity! the force of the future—for everything, you know, including the élan vital itself, will soon be proven electrical in nature.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for élan vital. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA