esprit

The pride and loyalty that members of a group feel toward the group and its purpose. "Esprit" means "spirt" in French, while "corps" is French for "body" or "group." There's a very strong esprit de corps among the teachers at this school—they're very passionate about education and see each other as family. That place was always just a job to me—I never genuinely felt the esprit de corps that other employees described. As CEO, I've made it my mission to foster an esprit de corps around here. I want people to enjoy coming to work every day!

A French phrase meaning "the wit of the staircase," a perfect witty remark, retort, or rejoinder that occurs to one after the fact or too late to be used. (Also written as "l'esprit d'escalier.") I was on the bus home long after being tongue-lashed by my boss when I thought of the perfect things to say that would take him down a few pegs. Ah, l'esprit de l'escalier!

A sense of unity, pride, or common purpose among the members of a group. The term came directly from French into English in the late eighteenth century and often was misspelled, as by Jane Austen in Mansfield Park (“I honour your esprit du [sic] corps”). It continued to be used because, as Sir Frank Adcock put it, it describes “that typically English characteristic for which there is no English name” (1930). An American equivalent from the sports world is team spirit.