"To this it is owing, that, in ancient languages, the word which denotes the soul, is that which properly signifies breath or air."
— Reid, Thomas (1710-1796)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Edinburgh and London
Publisher
John Bell, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson
Date
1785
Metaphor
"To this it is owing, that, in ancient languages, the word which denotes the soul, is that which properly signifies breath or air."
Metaphor in Context
With regard to the mind, men in their rudest state are apt to conjecture, that the principle of life in a man is his breath; because the most obvious distinction between a living and a dead man is, that the one breathes, and the other does not. To this it is owing, that, in ancient languages, the word which denotes the soul, is that which properly signifies breath or air.
(I.iii, p. 47)
(I.iii, p. 47)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
4 entries in ESTC (1785, 1786, 1790, 1793).
See Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (Edinburgh and London: Printed for John Bell, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1785). <Link to Google Books>
See Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (Edinburgh and London: Printed for John Bell, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1785). <Link to Google Books>
Theme
Etymology
Date of Entry
03/01/2012
