Meaning

adjective belonging to the class of nouns denoting nonliving things

adjective not endowed with life

adjective appearing dead; not breathing or having no perceptible pulse

originInherited from Middle English inanimat(e), from Late Latin inanimātus, from Latin in- + animātus (“animated”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, in- + animate. The noun was derived by substantivization from the adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0