Definition of "inanimate"

inanimate¹

/ɪnˈænɪmət/

adjective
comparative more inanimate, superlative most inanimate
1. Lacking the quality or ability of motion; as an inanimate object.
  Quotations
  The love of the inanimate is a general feeling. True, it makes no return of affection, neither does it disappoint it; its associations are from our thoughts and emotions.
  1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 172
2. Not being, and never having been alive, especially not like humans and animals.
  Quotations
  I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.
  1818, Mary Shelley, chapter 5, in Frankenstein‎, archived from the original on 31 October 2011
3. (grammar) Not animate.
noun
plural inanimates
1. (rare) Something that is not alive.

inanimate²

/ɪnˈænɪmeɪt/

verb
third-person singular simple present inanimates, present participle inanimating, simple past and past participle inanimated
1. (obsolete) To animate.
  Quotations
  For there's a kind of world remaining still, Though shee which did inanimate and fill
  1621, John Donne, An Anatomy of the World: The First Anniversary