inspira

Forms

inspira (third-person singular present inspiră, past participle inspirat, third-person subjunctive inspire), first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French inspirer, with Latin inspīrō (“to breathe into”) as a second model, a neologism of the late 18th and 19th centuries.^[2][3][1] Tiktin names the French verb alone,^[4] the DA takes it after French, with the Latin as the French verb's model,^[5] and the dictionary of neologisms adds Italian inspirare.^[6] The Latin verb is formed from in- (“in, into”) and spīrō (“to breathe, blow”);^[7] French took it in the late 12th century, first as enspirer, in the religious sense of God's breath giving life.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1794.^[4] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms of 1848 has the long infinitive inspirare, glossed with the native a însufla “to breathe into, to instil”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the verb meant above all to instil a thought or feeling and to fill a poet with creative enthusiasm: the DA quotes Constantin Negruzzi, Grigore Alexandrescu, Alecsandri (“a name that inspires in me a godlike worship”) and Eminescu (“O vino iar! Cuvinte dulci inspiră-mi”, “O come again, and breathe sweet words into me”).^[5] Pontbriant (1862) adds “to counsel, to suggest”.^[9] The reflexive a se inspira “to be inspired”, then “to draw one's ideas from”, followed.^[4][2]

The physiological sense “to breathe in” is in the dictionaries from the start of the 20th century,^[10] and MDA2's first record is a manual of anatomy of 1950.^[3] MDA2 also has an ironic use, “to copy from”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1794 – the first record.^[4]
• 1848 – inspirare “to instil” in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[8]
• 1862 – Pontbriant's dictionary: “to inspire; to counsel, suggest”.^[9]
• 1886 – the Romanised form înspira in Barcianu's dictionary.^[5]
• 1950 – “to breathe in” in an anatomy manual.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, also transitive) To inhale, to breathe air into the lungs.^[2][1]
2. (transitive, figurative) To arouse a thought, a feeling or a decision in someone; to suggest.^[2][3]
3. (transitive, specifically) To give someone the impulse to create; to inspire.^[2][3]
4. (reflexive, with din or de la) To take ideas or suggestions from something or someone; to be guided by: S-a inspirat din cântecele populare.^[2]
5. (reflexive, ironic) To copy from someone else's work.^[3]

Word family

• inspirare
• inspirat
• neinspirat

Related words

• inspirație
• aspira
• conspira
• expira
• respira

Usage notes

The present is inspir, inspiri, inspiră; an older present inspirez and the Romanised spelling înspira are no longer used.^[5][3] The participle inspirat is also an adjective, “inspired; well-judged”, with its negative neinspirat.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 511
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1143
4. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. inspira
5. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. inspira
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. inspira
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. inspirare
9. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 361
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 331