élan vital /eɪˈlɑn viˈtɑl/ noun1 •The life force or vital principle posited in the philosophy of Henri Bergson; any mysterious or creative vital principle.Progress was a labyrinth. . . people plunging blindly in and then rushing wildly back, shouting that they had found it. . . the invisible king—the élan vital—the principle of evolution. . . — 1920
