Holy Spirit

English

Etymology 1

From Late Middle English Holy Speryte, holy spiriet, holy spyryt, an alteration of earlier Middle English Holygost, Haliȝ Gast, holy goost (see Holy Ghost), equivalent to holy +‎ Spirit.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Mid-Atlantic)

  (file)

Proper noun

the Holy Spirit

1. (Christianity) The person (hypostasis) of the Trinity or Godhead corresponding to divine essence present in the faithful (particularly inspired prophets) and considered to proceed either from (Eastern Orthodoxy) God the Father alone or (Roman Catholicism) from Him together with God the Son.
   • 1731, “Dialogue on the Holy Spirit”, in Alexander Campbell, editor, The Millennial Harbinger, volume 2, page 553:

     The Holy Spirit is now the Spirit of Christ as it was once known by the title of the Spirit of God.

2. (Judaism) The spirit of God, especially the gifts of wisdom and prophecy.

Usage notes

This expression has superseded the term Holy Ghost in many Christian denominations and Bible translations.

Synonyms

Christian: person of the Holy Trinity

• God the Holy Spirit
• Holy Ghost, God the Holy Ghost
• Comforter, Paraclete
• The Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord, Spirit of Truth, Spirit of Verity, Spirit of Light
• Perfecter of the Elect

Jewish: attribute of God

• Shekinah
• The Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord

Holonyms

• (Christian: person of the Holy Trinity): The Godhead, The Trinity

Coordinate terms

• (Christian: person of the Holy Trinity): God, God the Father; Jesus Christ, God the Son

Translations

Christian: person of the Holy Trinity

• Afrikaans: Heilige Gees
• Aghwan: 𐕆𐔴𐔾𐕒𐕡𐕇 𐕌𐕒𐕡𐕟𐕒𐕡𐕙 (helux̣ muc̣'ur), 𐕆𐔴𐔾 𐔱𐔼𐕀𐔰𐕃𐕒𐕡𐕘𐔶 (hel bixaʒ́uġē)
• Akan: Honhom Kronkron
• Albanian: Shpirti i Shenjtë m
• Alemannic German: Heilige Geist
• Amharic: መንፈስ ቅዱስ (mänfäs ḳədus)
• Arabic: الرُّوح الْقُدْس m (ar-rūḥ al-quds)
• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܪܘܼܚܵܐ ܕܩܘܼܕܫܵܐ (ruḳa d-qudša)

• Armenian: Սուրբ Հոգի (Surb Hogi)
• Asturian: Espíritu Santu m
• Azerbaijani: Müqəddəs Ruh
• Basque: Espiritu Santua
• Belarusian: Святы́ Дух m (Svjatý Dux)
• Bengali: পবিত্র আত্মা ঈশ্বর (pobitro atta iśśor)
• Breton: Spered Santel (br) m
• Bulgarian: Свети Дух m (Sveti Duh)
• Carpathian Rusyn: Святый Дух (Svjatŷj Dux)
• Catalan: Esperit Sant m
• Chichewa: Mzimu Woyera
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 聖靈／圣灵 (sing³ ling⁴), 聖神／圣神 (sing³ san⁴) (Catholic)

  Hakka: 聖靈／圣灵 (Sṳn-Lìn), 聖神／圣神 (Sṳn-Sṳ̀n)

  Hokkien: 聖神／圣神 (Sèng-sîn), 聖靈／圣灵 (Sèng-lêng)

  Mandarin: 聖靈／圣灵 (zh) (Shènglíng), 聖神／圣神 (zh) (Shèngshén) (Catholic)

  Wuu: 聖神／圣神

• Chuvash: Сӑваплӑ Хакал (Săvaplă H̬ak̬al)
• Classical Nahuatl: Spiritu Santo
• Corsican: Spiritu Santu m
• Czech: Duch Svatý
• Danish: Helligånden c (definite form)
• Dutch: Heilige Geest (nl) m
• Dutch Low German: Heilige Geest
• Esperanto: Sankta Spirito
• Estonian: Püha Vaim
• Faroese: Heilaga andan
• Finnish: Pyhä Henki (fi)
• French: Esprit-Saint (fr) m, Saint-Esprit (fr) m
• Frisian:

  Saterland Frisian: Helige Jeest m

  West Frisian: Hillige Geast m

• Friulian: Spirtussant m
• Galician: Espírito Santo m
• Georgian: სულიწმინდა (sulic̣minda)
• German: Heiliger Geist (de) m
• Greek: Άγιο Πνεύμα (el) n (Ágio Pnévma), Παράκλητος m (Paráklitos)

  Ancient: Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον n (Pneûma tò Hágion)

• Haitian Creole: Sentespri
• Hebrew: רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ (Ruakh haKodesh)
• Hindi: पवित्र आत्मा (pavitra ātmā), पाक रूह f (pāk rūh)
• Hungarian: Szentlélek (hu)
• Iban: Roh Kudus
• Icelandic: Heilagur andi m
• Igbo: Mmuo Nso
• Indonesian: Roh Kudus
• Interlingua: Spirito Sancte
• Irish: An Spiorad Naomh m, An Naomhspiorad m
• Italian: Spirito Santo (it) m
• Japanese: 聖霊 (ja) (せいれい, Seirei)
• Javanese: Roh Kudus
• Kazakh: Киелі Рух (Kielı Rux)
• Korean: 성신 (聖神) (seongsin), 성령 (聖靈) (seongnyeong), 주님 (junim)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گیانێ پیرۆز (gyanê pîroz), ڕۆحی پیرۆز (roḧî pîroz)

  Northern Kurdish: Giyanê Pîroz

• Kyrgyz: Касиеттүү Рух
• Latin: Spīritus Sānctus
• Latvian: Svētais Gars m
• Limburgish: Hèlge Geis (li) (Montfortian)
• Lingala: Molímo Mosántu
• Lithuanian: Šventoji Dvasia f
• Lombard: Spirit Sant m
• Luxembourgish: Hellege Geescht (lb) m
• Macedonian: Свет Дух f (Svet Duh)
• Malagasy: Fanahy Masina (mg)
• Malay: Roh Kudus
• Malayalam: പരിശുദ്ധാത്മാവ്
• Maltese: Spirtu s-Santu, Ruħ il-Qodos
• Manchu: ᡝᠨᡩᡠᡵᡳᠩᡤᡝ
  ᡝᠨᡩᡠᡵᡳ (enduringge enduri)
• Manx: Yn Spyrryd Noo m
• Maranao: Rokol Kodos
• Marathi: पवित्र आत्मा (pavitra ātmā)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: Шнуй Шӱлыш (Šnuj Šülyš)

  Western Mari: Святой Шӱлӹш (Svatoj Šülÿš)

• Mingrelian: შურწკონდა (šurc̣ḳonda)
• Mongolian: Ариун Сүнс (Ariun Süns)
• Navajo: Níłchʼi Diyinii
• Norman: Saint-Esprit m
• Northern Sami: Bassi Vuoigŋa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Den hellige ånd (no) m

  Nynorsk: Den heilage ande m, Heilaganden m

• Occitan: Sant Esperit m

  Gascon: Sent Esperit m

• Old English: Hāliġ Gāst m
• Old Georgian: სული (suli)
• Oromo: Afuura Qulqulluu
• Persian: روح القدس (fa) (ruh olquds), پاک روح (pâk ruh), روح‌القدس
• Piedmontese: Spirit Sant m
• Polish: Duch Boży m, Duch Święty (pl) m
• Portuguese: Espírito Santo (pt) m
• Quechua: Ch'uya Ispiritu
• Romanian: Duhul Sfânt m, Spiritul Sfânt n
• Romansch: Sontg Spiert m
• Russian: Свято́й Дух (ru) m (Svjatój Dux)
• Samoan: Agaga Paia
• Sango: Yingö-Gbïä (sg), Yingö-Vulü (sg)
• Scottish Gaelic: Spiorad Naomh
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Све̑тӣ Ду̏х m, Ду̏х Све̑тӣ m

  Roman: Svȇtī Dȕh m, Dȕh Svȇtī m

• Shona: Mweya Mutsvene
• Sicilian: Spìritu Santu m, Spirdu Santu m
• Sindhi: روح القدس
• Slovak: Duch Svätý m
• Slovene: Sveti Duh m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: Swěty Duch m

  Upper Sorbian: Swjaty Duch m

• Spanish: Espíritu Santo m
• Sranan Tongo: Santa Yeye
• Swahili: Roho Mtakatifu
• Swedish: den Helige Anden c (most common today), den Helige Ande c (historically most common)
• Tagalog: Espiritu Santo
• Tahitian: te Varua Maitai
• Tamil: ஆவி (ta) (āvi), பரிசுத்த ஆவி (ta) (paricutta āvi), ஆவியானவர் (āviyāṉavar), தூயாவியார் (tūyāviyār)
• Thai: พระวิญญาณบริสุทธิ์ (prá win-yaan bor-rí-sùt)
• Toquelauan: Agāga Paia
• Turkish: Kutsal Ruh (tr)
• Turkmen: Mukaddes Ruh
• Ukrainian: Святи́й Дух m (Svjatýj Dux)
• Urdu: روح القدس (rūh-ul-qūds), پاک روح f (pāk rūh)
• Uyghur: مۇقەددەس رۇھ (muqeddes ruh)
• Uzbek: Muqaddas Ruh
• Vietnamese: Thánh Thần (聖神), Thánh Linh
• Walloon: Sint Esprit m
• Waray Waray: Espiritu Santo
• Welsh: Ysbryd Glân m
• Western Panjabi: روح القدس
• Yiddish: רוח־הקודש (Ruekh-Hakoydesh)
• Zealandic: Heilige Geêst
• Zulu: Umoya ongcwele

Etymology 2

A calque of Arabic رُوح الْقُدُس (rūḥ al-qudus, “Spirit of Holiness”), a calque of the Ancient Greek and Hebrew senses above.

Proper noun

Holy Spirit

1. (Islam) The spirit of God, especially in its inspiration of prophets and quickening of fetuses.
2. (Islam) The archangel Gabriel.