esprit
pronunciation
How to pronounce esprit in British English:
UK [es'pri:]
How to pronounce esprit in American English:
US [es'pri]
-
- Noun:
- liveliness of mind or spirit
Word Origin
- esprit (n.)
- 1590s, "liveliness, wit, vivacity," from Middle French esprit "spirit, mind," from Old French espirit "spirit, soul" (12c.), from Latin spiritus "spirit" (see spirit (n.)). For initial e-, see e-. Esprit de corps, recorded from 1780 in English, preserves the usual French sense. French also has the excellent phrase esprit de l'escalier, literally "spirit of the staircase," defined in OED as, "a retort or remark that occurs to a person after the opportunity to make it has passed." It also has espirit fort, a "strong-minded" person, one independent of current prejudices, especially a freethinker in religion.
Example
- 1. There are calls for esprit to make itself more affordable in china .
- 2. The group 's long-suffering investors will hope this is going to reverse esprit 's fortunes .
- 3. But in the absence of hard evidence of esprit 's brand reinvigoration , others should sit this out .
- 4. The dutchman , who joined the hong kong-listed casual wear group in 2009 , has overseen esprit 's purchase of its partner 's stake in their chinese joint venture , a move that gives the company full control in the market .
- 5. Taking a quick scan through the hang seng index components , winners could include trading firm li & fung , apparel retailer esprit , contract electronics manufacturer foxconn , airline and air-cargo carrier cathay pacific , and cargo shipper cosco pacific .