Main Entry:

in·spire

Pronunciation:

\in-ˈspī(-ə)r\

Function:

verb

Inflected Form(s):

in·spired; in·spir·ing

Etymology:

Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French inspirer, from Latin inspirare, from in- + spirare to breathe

Date:

14th century

transitive verb1 a: to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration b: to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on <was particularly inspired by the Romanticists> c: to spur on : impel, motivate <threats don't necessarily inspire people to work> d: affect <seeing the old room again inspired him with nostalgia>2 aarchaic : to breathe or blow into or upon barchaic : to infuse (as life) by breathing3 a: to communicate to an agent supernaturally b: to draw forth or bring out <thoughts inspired by a visit to the cathedral>4: inhale 15 a: bring about, occasion <the book was inspired by his travels in the Far East> b: incite6: to spread (rumor) by indirect means or through the agency of anotherintransitive verb: inhale

— in·spir·er noun