Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To affect, guide, or arouse by divine influence.
  • intransitive verb To fill with enlivening or exalting emotion.
  • intransitive verb To stimulate to action; motivate: synonym: encourage.
  • intransitive verb To cause (someone) to have a particular feeling; affect or touch.
  • intransitive verb To cause someone to have (a feeling or reaction); elicit or arouse.
  • intransitive verb To be the cause or source of; bring about.
  • intransitive verb To draw in (air) by inhaling.
  • intransitive verb To breathe on.
  • intransitive verb To breathe life into.
  • intransitive verb To stimulate energies, ideals, or reverence.
  • intransitive verb To inhale.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To breathe in; draw into the lungs; inhale: as, to inspire pure air: opposed to expire.
  • To breathe into; infuse by or as if by breathing.
  • Hence To actuate or influence; animate; affect, rouse, or control by an infused, animating, or exalting influence.
  • Specifically To guide or control by divine influence; instruct or infuse with spiritual or divine knowledge.
  • To inhale air; draw air into the lungs: opposed to expire.
  • To blow; blow in.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To breathe into; to fill with the breath; to animate.
  • transitive verb To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing.
  • transitive verb To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale; -- opposed to expire.
  • transitive verb 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.
  • transitive verb To infuse into; to affect, as with a superior or supernatural influence; to fill with what animates, enlivens, or exalts; to communicate inspiration to.
  • intransitive verb To draw in breath; to inhale air into the lungs; -- opposed to expire.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To breathe; to blow gently.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • 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.
  • verb intransitive 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.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb supply the inspiration for
  • verb spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts
  • verb draw in (air)
  • verb heighten or intensify
  • verb fill with revolutionary ideas
  • verb serve as the inciting cause of

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English enspiren, from Old French enspirer, from Latin īnspīrāre : in-, into; see in– + spīrāre, to breathe.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French enspirer, from Latin īnspīrāre, present active infinitive of īnspīrō ("inspire"), itself a loan-translation of the Ancient Greek πνέω (pneō, "breathe") in the Bible, from in + spīrō ("breathe").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word inspire.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • A diabetic vampire.

    March 25, 2009

  • Also, a hip vampire.

    March 25, 2009

  • Ha!

    March 26, 2009