INSPIRE

verb (~d; inspiring) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French ~r, from Latin inspirare, from in- + spirare to breathe Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration, to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on , to spur on ; impel , motivate , affect , 2. to breathe or blow into or upon, to infuse (as life) by breathing, 3. to communicate to an agent supernaturally, to draw forth or bring out , inhale 1, 5. bring about , occasion , incite , to spread (rumor) by indirect means or through the agency of another, intransitive verb inhale , ~r noun