ensoulment

thumb|400px|The initial stages of human embryonic development.

In religion and ancient philosophy, ensoulment (from the verb ensoul meaning to endow or imbue with a soul -- earliest ascertainable word use: 1605) is the moment at which a human or other being gains a soul. Some belief systems maintain that a soul is newly created within a developing child; others, especially in religions that believe in reincarnation, believe that the soul is pre-existing and enters the body at a particular stage of development.