Sufflate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To blow or puff air or breath gently upon something; to inflame or inspire with a subtle or spiritual influence; to supply or cause to be filled with air or gas
2. To exhale or breathe out softly onto a surface; to impart a mystical or impelling force; to infuse or fill with a gaseous substance or spirit
3. To send forth a gentle stream of air or breath; to awaken or stimulate by a spiritual or invisible force; to cause to be aerated or inflated by blowing

Etymology: "Sufflate" is built from two Latin parts: "sub", meaning "under" or "up from below," and "flare", meaning "to blow." Put together, "sufflare" meant to blow up at something from underneath, the image of breath rising to meet an object. The Latin verb carried that physical sense of puffing or breathing onto something, and it gave English a precise word for gentle blowing. English speakers used the word in its original breath-related sense, and the other meanings grew out of that picture. A puff of breath can kindle a fire or stir a feeling, so the verb came to mean inflaming or inspiring with a subtle, even spiritual, influence. From there it also took on the mechanical sense of supplying something with air or gas, so that a balloon or a lung could be filled by blowing into it.

Synonyms: blow, inflate, puff, exhale, breathe out

Antonyms: inhale, suck in