Contextualizebeta

inspire

verb
/ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/UK/ɪnˈspaɪɹ/CA/ɪnˈspɑeə(ɹ)/

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”).

  1. derived from *(s)peys-✻ — “to blow, breathe”
  2. derived from īnspīrō — “inspire”
  3. derived from inspirer
  4. inherited from inspiren

Definitions

  1. To infuse into the mind

    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.

    • Dawning day new comfort hath inspired.
    • He knew not his Maker, and him that inspired into him an active soul.
    • […] and whose example of reverence and devotion was so well calculated to inspire confidence and attachment in every class of the community?

  2. To infuse into

    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.
    • The captain's speech was aimed to inspire her team to victory in the final.
    • Erato, thy poet's mind inspire, / And fill his soul with thy celestial fire.

  3. To draw in by the operation of breathing

    To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale.

    • By means of those sulfurous coal smokes the lungs are as it were stifled and extremely oppressed, whereby they are forced to inspire and expire the air with difficulty.
    • Everything was elaborately padded, even the Myers apparatus which was to absorb carbonic acid and replace the oxygen inspired by its tenant
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing.

    2. To breathe into

      To breathe into; to fill with the breath; to animate.

      • Deſcend ye nine! deſcend and ſing; / The breathing inſtruments inſpire, / VVake into voice each ſilent ſtring, / And ſvveep the ſounding lyre!

    3. To spread rumour indirectly.

The neighborhood

Derived

awe-inspiring, bio-inspired, inspirable, inspirer, inspirometer, misinspire, philatelically inspired, reinspire, uninspire

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at inspire. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01inspire02spirit03creature04alien05national06patriotic07patriotism08inspires

A definitional loop anchored at inspire. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at inspire

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA