# inspire

Pronunciation: US say "in-SPYR" /ɪnˈspaɪɹ/; say "in-SPY-uh" UK /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/, AUS /ɪnˈspɑeə(ɹ)/

## Verb

1. To fill someone with strength, energy, or purpose, often as though by a higher or extraordinary influence.
   - Simple: To fill someone with energy, hope, or a wish to do something good.
   - _Her quiet courage inspired everyone who worked alongside her._
   - _Great leaders inspire others to give their very best._
2. To convey a thought, feeling, or conviction into someone's mind, as though by a divine or supernatural influence.
   - Simple: To put a thought or feeling into someone's mind, as if by a special or higher power.
   - _Her steady manner inspired confidence in the anxious patients._
   - _Ancient writers believed the gods inspire prophets with hidden truths._
3. To introduce something into a body or object by breathing, or as if by breathing.
   - Simple: To put something into a person or thing by breathing, or as if by breathing.
   - _Myth holds that the god inspired breath into the first human form._
   - _Poets imagined a power that could inspire warmth into cold stone._
4. To draw air into the lungs by the action of breathing; to inhale.
   - Simple: To take air into the lungs by breathing in.
   - _Patients are taught to inspire fully before holding their breath for the scan._
   - _As the chest expands, the lungs inspire and slowly fill with air._
5. To cause a rumor or report to spread by indirect means, rather than stating it openly.
   - Simple: To start a rumor in a quiet, indirect way.
   - _The palace inspired talk of a royal visit through carefully placed hints._
   - _Campaigns often inspire stories in friendly outlets ahead of a major announcement._

## Verb

6. To breathe into something so as to fill it with breath and give it life; to animate. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To breathe into something and give it life, making it alive.
   - _Older translations describe how the deity inspired the earthen man with living breath._
   - _The myth imagines a creator who could inspire dust and raise it into a living being._

## Origin

Inspire comes from Middle English "inspiren," from Old French "inspirer," from Latin "īnspīrāre" (to inspire), formed from "in" plus "spīrō" (to breathe). The Latin was itself a loan-translation of the Biblical Greek "pnéō" (to breathe), and it replaced the native Old English "onbryrdan."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/inspire (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).