inner man

noun — 2 senses

inner man

noun
1

The spiritual or intellectual part of a person; a person's mind, soul, or nature.

  • She died of a lingering disease; and as her outward man gradually decayed, so it appeared that her inner man was renewed day by day. Her conversation was very pious and edifying.1874, Experience Mayhew, The Venerable Mayhews and the Aboriginal Indians of Martha's Vineyard, page 155:
2

Humorous The stomach or appetite.

  • But now we had reached our opening ground, the boy with the pony and the second brace of dogs was ordered to the rear, with instructions to meet us by the side of a certain gray rock, and spring-head, on the northern edge of Kettletang, a huge, bluff-headed hill, overtopping all his neighbors, at noon, when we should be there to refresh the inner man, and take up the fresh dogs for the afternoon.1882, Henry William Herbert, “The Yorkshire Moors”, in David Wright Judd, editor, Life and Writings of Frank Forester (Henry William Herbert.), page 35:
Hyponyms
spirit man

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.