From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishanimisman‧i‧mis‧m /ˈænəmɪzəm/ noun [uncountable] RRa religion in which animals and plants are believed to have spirits
Examples from the Corpus
animism• This is the basis of animism, and animism is the basis of religion.• They still retain large elements of animism, a belief which assigns a divine spark or spirit to every material thing.Origin animism (1800-1900) Latin anima; → ANIMAL1 