Enthusiasm
nounA strong feeling of eager interest in or enjoyment of something.
How to spell enthusiasm
10 letters · 5 syllables
How to pronounce enthusiasm
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does enthusiasm mean?
- nounA strong feeling of eager interest in or enjoyment of something.
Enthusiasm in a sentence
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The team greeted the new project with genuine enthusiasm.
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Her enthusiasm for cooking led her to enrol in evening classes.
Where does enthusiasm come from?
Language of origin: Greek
The word comes from the Greek enthousiasmos, which described a state of being inspired or possessed by a god. It was built from enthous, meaning 'having a god within', formed from en 'in' and theos 'god'. When the word first entered English in the early 1600s, through Latin and French, it carried a strongly religious and often disapproving flavour, referring to excessive or fanatical religious emotion. Over the following century the sense softened into the warm, positive eagerness we mean today. The hidden 'th' coming from theos 'god' explains the spelling that catches people out, since the sound gives no hint that the 'h' belongs there; the same theos root sits inside 'theology' and 'atheist'.
How the word is built
- en- (in, within)
- thus- (from Greek theos: god)
- -iasm (noun-forming suffix denoting a state or condition)
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