inspire
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 4 meanings
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.
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.”
To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale.
To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing.
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”).
Similar and opposite words
INSPIRE at a glance
INSPIRE has 7 letters and scores 9 points in Scrabble (I 1 + N 1 + S 1 + P 3 + I 1 + R 1 + E 1) and 11 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #7,030 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with inspire
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