transitive verb inspired, inspiring
- Obsolete
- to breathe or blow upon or into
- to infuse (life, etc. into) by breathing
- to draw (air) into the lungs; inhale
- to have an animating effect upon; influence or impel; esp., to stimulate or impel to some creative or effective effort
- to cause, guide, communicate, or motivate as by divine or supernatural influence
- to arouse or produce (a thought or feeling): kindness inspires love
- to affect with a specified feeling or thought: to inspire someone with fear
- to occasion, cause, or produce
- to prompt, or cause to be written or said, by influence: to inspire a rumor
Origin:
ME inspiren < OFr inspirer < L inspirare < in-, in, on + spirare, to breathe: see spirit