enthusiasm

Etymology

First recorded in 1603,^[1][2] although the OED's earliest quotation is from 1579.^[3] It is borrowed from Late Latin enthūsiasmus (also via Middle French enthousiasme),^[4][2] from Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιασμός (enthousiasmós, “divine inspiration”),^[5][3] from Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιάζω (enthousiázō, “to be inspired or possessed by a god”),^[5][1] from éntheos “possessed by a god”, from en “in” + theós “god”.^[4][1]

Under the Puritans the word acquired the derogatory sense “excessive religious emotion” (1650s);^[5] the modern sense “fervour, zeal” is recorded by 1716.^[5]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
2. [1] [2] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. [1] [2] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. [1] [2] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com