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inspire

Etymology and origin of the English word inspire

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1340
Borrowed from
Old French enspirer
Ultimate origin
Latin (inspirare)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ɪnˈspaɪə/, US /ɪnˈspaɪ.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French enspirer (13th century),[2][3][4] from Latin īnspīrāre (“to blow into, breathe upon”), figuratively to inspire, inflame,[2][3] from in-, in, and spīrāre, to breathe (see spirit).[3][2][4] Barnhart thinks it may also be partly a back-formation from inspiration, recorded about 1303.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To fill the mind or heart with a divine influence, a thought or feeling: about 1340,[3] the mid-14th century in Etymonline;[2] the word was first used of a divine or supernatural being putting an idea or truth into someone's mind.[5]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, to influence or animate with an idea or purpose, is from the late 14th century.[2] Literal senses, to breathe or blow into, are from about 1386 and now obsolete or archaic,[6] while to breathe in, inhale, is from 1528.[6][4] To prompt or give rise to something (her beauty inspired his love) is a modern use,[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1303 – inspiration.[3]
  • c. 1340 – to fill with divine influence.[3]
  • late 14th century – to animate with an idea.[2]
  • c. 1386 – to breathe into (obsolete).[6]
  • 1528 – to inhale.[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To fill with the urge or ability to do something, especially something creative; to motivate.
  2. To arouse a feeling: to inspire confidence.
  3. To guide or affect by divine influence.
  4. To breathe in; to inhale.

Word family

  • inspirer
  • inspiringly
  • awe-inspiring
  • inspirable
  • reinspire

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Inspire.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/inspire. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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