animacy — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The state of being animate (alive or supernaturally seeming alive).

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

   Synonyms

   animatenessanimation

   Antonyms

   inanimacy

   Examples

   These may differ radically in their linguistic animacy, as briefly discussed above, without this having any consequences for their biological animacy.

2. In some languages, the characteristic of a noun, dependent on its living or sentient nature, which affects grammatical features (it can modify verbs used with the noun, affect the noun's declension, etc.).

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually