Animism (from Latin anima "soul, life") refers to a set of beliefs that revolve around the existence of non-human "spiritual beings" or similar kinds of embodied principles. The core beliefs of animism are held in common by a diverse group of people, primarily the world's remaining "primitive" tribal peoples and many of the living descendants of tribal peoples previously colonized.

Animism encompasses the beliefs that there is no separation between the spiritual and physical (or material) world, and souls or spirits exist, not only in humans, but also in all other animals, plants, rocks, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment. Animism may further attribute souls to abstract concepts such as words, true names, or metaphors in mythology. Examples of Animism can be found in forms of Shinto, Serer, Hinduism, Buddhism, Pantheism, Paganism, and Neopaganism.

Throughout European history, philosophers such as Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, among others, contemplated the possibility that souls exist in animals, plants, and people; however, the currently accepted definition of animism was only developed in the 19th century by Sir Edward Tylor, who created it as "one of anthropology's earliest concepts, if not the first".