inspire
UK /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ · US /ɪnˈspaɪɹ/ verb
Forms inspires inspiring inspired
- verb (transitive) To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by inspiration.
- verb (transitive) To infuse into; to affect, as with a superior or supernatural influence; to fill with what animates, enlivens or exalts; to communicate inspiration to. “Elders should inspire children with sentiments of virtue.”
- verb (ambitransitive) To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale.
- verb To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing.
- verb (archaic, transitive) To breathe into; to fill with the breath; to animate.
- verb (transitive) To spread rumour indirectly.
Synonyms
beghast animate invigorate enliven exalt prompt instigate cheer root on urge barrack urge on exhort pep up revolutionize revolutionise inhale breathe in
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English inspiren, enspiren, from Old French inspirer, variant of espirer, from Latin īnspīrāre (“inspire”), itself a loan-translation of Biblical Ancient Greek πνέω (pnéō, “breathe”), from in + spīrō (“breathe”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow, breathe”). Displaced native Old English onbryrdan (literally “to prick in”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To breathe into; to fill with the breath; to animate.
- verb To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing.
- verb To draw in breath; to inhale air into the lungs; --opposed to expire.
- verb To breathe; to blow gently. [Obs.]
Etymology [OE. enspiren, OF. enspirer, inspirer, F. inspirer, fr. L. inspirare; pref. in- in + spirare to breathe. See Spirit.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “inspire”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details