inspire

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb heighten or intensify
  2. verb supply the inspiration for
  3. verb serve as the inciting cause of

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”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

animate, invigorate, enliven, exalt

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