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I'm trying to translate a video on TED into my native language (Latvian). At the very start there is an expression I'm unfamiliar with - "animal warmth". I think I kind of understand the idea intuitively, but I can't think of any similar expressions in my native tongue (short of direct translation). It would be nice if someone could explain the concept to me, or give some more examples of usage. Here's the context:

... Because in my family, reading was the primary group activity. And this might sound antisocial to you, but for us it was really just a different way of being social. You have the animal warmth of your family sitting right next to you, but you are also free to go roaming around the adventureland inside your own mind.

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I missed my chance to answer because I started listening to the interview (by the way, thank you for giving me the opportunity to discover a very interesting site). I would have said that "animal warmth" could be described as cosiness. – Paola May 6 '12 at 14:48
@Paola: The question is still open, so there's still plenty of time to add to the conversation. I always appreciate a little extra insight – be it heritage, history, custom, usage or anecdote – even after a question is already 85% answered. Nobody has mentioned the band Three Dog Night, for example. – J.R. May 6 '12 at 16:10

2 Answers

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It simply describes, rather graphically, the comfort to be derived from the presence of other people, particularly people you are close to.

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+1, Barrie, you are the number one. Your answer are always concise and vigorous. – Carlo_R. May 6 '12 at 15:17
@Barrie England: Would then animal warmth be synonym of human warmth in this figurative sense? – Laure May 6 '12 at 15:28
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@Laure: I don't think so. 'Animal warmth' conveys to me, at least, the sense of something more tangible than 'human warmth', in so far as kinds of heat can be tangible at all. 'Human warmth' is emotional, whereas 'animal warmth' is rather more physical. – Barrie England May 6 '12 at 16:08
up vote 4 down vote

Animal warmth is literally a warmth generated from within an animal or person, as opposed to external sources of heat. It is used figuratively to mean a coziness and closeness with another being. Here are a few examples of its use.

The first excerpt is from an old medical journal, just showing that it's an old term and that animal warmth is different than artificial heat.

Baltimore monthly journal of medicine & surgery, Volume 1, 1830

Besides there is something we know not what in animal warmth which cherishes far more than artificial heat. The knowledge of the fact seems to be as old as the days of King David but the rationale we cannot explain until we shall have learnt something more of the constitution of heat.

This excerpt from a textbook shows the connotation of closeness and nurturing.

Anglo-Irish Autobiography: Class, Gender, and the Forms of Narrative By Elizabeth Grubgeld, 2004

As a small child I often longed for the animal warmth of simple maternal love. I longed for some one to take me in her arms, to kiss me and to hug me, to rock me to sleep in her lap.

As does this example from the journal of poet Sylvia Plath.

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, 1950-1962

So there it was, two hours of driving through the dark, the warmth of the people on either side of me -- animal warmth penetrates regardless of sensibilities and arbitrary barricades.

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