L’esprit (nm) can mean ‘spirit’ but often means ‘mind’: ‘avoir l’esprit lent/vif’ : ‘to be slow/quick witted’.
‘Avoir l’esprit d’escalier’ is to think of a quick reply too late; ‘avoir l’esprit de contradiction’ is to be argumentative, to contradict for its own sake; ‘les esprits chagrins’ are faultfinders.
More positive esprits: ‘avoir de l’esprit’ is to be witty; ‘l’esprit de suite’ is consistency (of thought); ‘l’esprit de système’ is a methodical or systematic mind.