ə̇nˈfyüz verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English infusen, enfusen, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French infuser, from Latin infusus, past participle of infundere to pour in, from in- in- (II) + fundere to pour — more at found
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to pour (a liquid) into something
2.
a. : to instill or inculcate a principle or quality in
attributes the fine spirit of the whole project to the self-respect with which men had been infused — Dixon Wecter
b. : introduce , insinuate , suggest
infuse an idea
infuse a belief
infused an aviation curriculum into some forty university departments — Phil Gustafson
3. : inspire , imbue , animate , fill
brought together the main ideas … and infused them with the conception that the universe was the product of a historical development — S.F.Mason
infused only with her passion for her child — Ethel Wilson
4. : to steep in water or other fluid without boiling for the purpose of extracting useful qualities : drench
infuse tea leaves
intransitive verb
: to undergo the process of infusion
letting the tea stand a few minutes to infuse — Flora Thompson
Synonyms:
suffuse , imbue , ingrain , inoculate , leaven : infuse implies the introducing into one thing of a second that gives life, vigor, or new significance
infusing life into an inanimate body — Mary W. Shelley
the extraordinary force which Lawrence's imagination infused into his prose — Times Literary Supplement
whose work is for the most part infused with the spirit of scientific materialism — L.A.White
it infused into them the feeling that they were not at the mercy of blind economic forces — A.R.Williams
suffuse implies the spreading over or through one thing of a second that gives the first thing an unusual color, aspect, texture, or quality
I felt a large, healthy blush suffuse my features — L.P.Smith
the western sky was suffused with the transparent yellow-green of August evenings — Ellen Glasgow
an exalted feeling of martyrdom well earned suffused the exiles — E.J.Simmons
the novel was suffused with a feeling for water and air, with sunlight hot and shifting — Leo Gurko
imbue implies the introduction into a person or thing of something that completely permeates
imbued so strongly with a sense of duty and obedience — Hanama Tasaki
imbued with a dynamic faith — American Guide Series: Minnesota
imbue the army with a national spirit — Hajo Holborn
the mind becomes imbued with the scientific method — J.B.Conant
ingrain implies a pervading of something with an irremovable dye or something suggesting such a dye
morality ingrained in the national character — J.A.Froude
the principle of serfdom was ingrained in medieval society — G.G.Coulton
her instinctive humility and good manners were too deeply ingrained — Helen Howe
this idea of equality was ingrained in the New York cabdriver — D.F.Karaka
inoculate , in this extended sense, implies an imbuing of a person with something resembling a disease germ, often suggesting a surreptitious means
those who believe that the great mass of the people are unreasoning beasts that must be controlled by inoculating them with myths or fictions — M.R.Cohen
the democratic leveling had helped to inoculate the public with the idea of free schools disassociated from charity — American Guide Series: Virginia
third-rate southerners inoculated with all the worst traits of the Yankee sharper — H.L.Mencken
leaven implies a transforming of something by introducing into it something else which enlivens, elevates, tempers, or markedly alters the total quality, usually for the better
leaven the dense mass of facts and events with the elastic force of reason — J.H.Newman
there was need of idealism to leaven the materialistic realism of the times — V.L.Parrington
knowledge … must be leavened with magnanimity before it becomes wisdom — A.E.Stevenson b. 1900