pusillanimous: [16] Pusillanimous means etymologically ‘tiny-spirited’. It comes from late Latin pūsillanimis, a compound adjective formed from pūsillus ‘very small or weak’ (a descendant of the same base as produced Latin puer ‘child, boy’, source of English puerile) and animus ‘mind, spirit’ (source of English animate). => animal, animate, puerile
