inspire

Meanings

1. 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.
2. To infuse into; to affect, as with a superior or supernatural influence; to fill with what animates, enlivens or exalts; to communicate inspiration to.
3. To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale.
4. To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing.
5. To breathe into; to fill with the breath; to animate.
6. To spread rumour indirectly.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys-der.? Latin spīrō Latin īnspīrōbor. Old French espirer Old French enspirerbor. Middle English enspiren English inspire 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”).