All 5 Uses of

animate
in
The War of the Worlds

Dim and wonderful is the vision I have conjured up in my mind of life spreading slowly from this little seed bed of the solar system throughout the inanimate vastness of sidereal space.†
Chpt 2.10

It has air and water and all that is necessary for the support of animated existence.†
Chpt 1.1

The fighting-machines were coordinated and animated to an extraordinary pitch, but nothing to compare with this.†
Chpt 2.2 *

Definitions:

(1) (animate as in: animated by her strong belief)
inspire, make more lively, or bring to life
(2) (animate as in: an animated cartoon)
make a moving cartoon (a film technique that uses a set of gradually changing pictures to simulate movement when played in series)
(3) (animate as in: animate v. inanimate)
alive; or (more rarely) an animal--not a plant; or (more rarely still) the degree to which as an animal feels and thinks

This sense of animate is typically contrasted with inanimate. The adjective animate describes something as being alive--such as a dog. The adjective inanimate describes something as not being alive--such as a rock.

Note that this sense of animate is pronounced differently than other senses. Most senses whether used as a noun or an adjective) rhyme with mate, but this sense rhymes more closely with mutt".
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

Much more rarely, Linguists use the form animacy to describe whether (or the degree to which) a noun feels and thinks. It impacts grammar. For example, in English, "She moved" v. "It moved."