Aflame

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /əˈfleɪm/

Definitions

1. Burning brightly or intensely with fire, or figuratively filled with strong emotion or passion
2. Being on fire or emitting flames, or being filled with fervent feelings of enthusiasm or anger
3. Characterized by an intense glow from combustion, or radiating powerful feelings of excitement or rage

Etymology: The word is built from two pieces that each predate it. The "a-" is the Old English preposition "on", which English long used to form phrases like "on fire" or "on fire with rage", and "flame" comes from Latin "flamma" by way of Old French "flamme" and Anglo-Norman "flaume". Put together, "a flame" in the sense of "in flames" was a Late Middle English adverb, and the adjective arrived later, derived from that adverb. The verb behind the modern sense of fervour is a separate story. Old French "flamber" meant "to blaze, burn", and English borrowed it as a verb that could mean to shine like fire, but also to kindle an emotion, to give off an odour, or, in cooking, to baste meat with grease. The intensifying "a-" was later attached to this verb as well, which is why the same prefix sits on both the literal and the figurative sense of blazing.

Synonyms: burning, on fire, ablaze, blazing, lit

Antonyms: extinguished, cold, quiescent, dormant, unlit