animus

[Lat. the spiritual and ra tional soul in man; opposed to anima =(1) the principle of animal life, (2) the will, purpose, (3) the affections, the inclinations, the pa ions.] Intention; purpose, especially of a hostile character founded on the presence of animosity in the heart. "The lightest of these charges were symptoms of an animus which the Crown prosecutors would regard as treasonable." - Froude : Hist . Eng ., vol. iii., ch. xiv. "During the last eighteen months there had been a curious animus in certain quarters against the subject races of the Porte."-Mr. Trevelyan, M.P.: Times, Feb. 2, 1878.