Indue

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To endow or invest someone or something with a particular characteristic or quality
2. To supply or equip someone with an attribute or power
3. To impart or confer a specific trait or capability upon an individual or object

Etymology: Indue comes from two separate Latin verbs that ended up in English by different routes, and then merged into one word. The first is "induere," meaning to put on clothes, which reached English in the late Middle Ages as "induen," used of dressing someone or taking on an appearance. The second is "indūcere," meaning to lead or bring into, which passed through Old French as "enduire" and gave English "endeuen," with the sense of endowing someone or installing them in office. Over time the two strands blended. The clothing sense supplied the image of a quality being put on like a garment, while the endowing sense supplied the idea of conferring something on a person. That combination produced the modern meaning: to bestow a particular trait or ability upon someone or something. The spelling "indue" is the older form, now dated, while "endue" is the more common variant. The two were once rival spellings of the same verb, and "indue" survives mainly in older or more formal writing.

Synonyms: impart, bestow