Inspire

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. To fill someone with the motivation, confidence, or creative urge to do or feel something meaningful
2. To instill feelings of enthusiasm, creativity, or ambition in someone, prompting them to take action or develop a deeper appreciation for something meaningful
3. To evoke a sense of motivation, creativity, or confidence in individuals, encouraging them to pursue meaningful actions or ideas

Etymology: The verb "inspire" began as a translation of a single Greek idea about breath. Latin "īnspīrāre" meant "to breathe into," and early Christian writers used it to render the Biblical Greek "pnéō," "to breathe," in passages where God breathes life or divine wisdom into people. The Latin word itself is built from "in," meaning "into," and "spīrō," "to breathe," which traces back to an ancient root meaning "to blow." That sacred sense passed into Old French as "espirer," then "enspirer," and reached Middle English as "enspiren" and "inspiren." Its earlier English counterpart, Old English "onbryrdan," meant "to prick in," and it was displaced by the borrowed word, so the modern sense of stirring someone's mind comes from a foreign loan rather than a native term. The jump from literal breathing to motivation happened because breath was long imagined as the carrier of life and thought. To be breathed into was to be filled with an idea or a feeling, and that image carried over into everyday speech.

Synonyms: motivate, encourage, influence, stimulate, ignite

Antonyms: discourage, dissuade, demotivate, depress, dishearten