Inspire

How to spell inspire

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce inspire

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inspire mean?

1. verbTo fill someone with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially something creative or worthwhile.

Inspire in a sentence

• A good mentor can inspire junior staff to take on bigger projects.

• The museum exhibition aims to inspire visitors to learn more about local history.

Where does inspire come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin verb inspirare, which literally meant 'to breathe into' or 'to blow upon', formed from in- meaning 'into' and spirare meaning 'to breathe'. In its earliest religious and poetic uses it described a divine or supernatural force breathing life, feeling, or ideas into a person, as though filling them with breath. English took it up in the 1300s through Old French, first in the sense of a divine influence prompting thought or creativity, before it broadened to the everyday meaning of stirring someone to action or feeling. The same spirare root breathes through a whole family of relatives, including 'respire', 'expire', 'perspire', and 'spirit' itself. Remembering that the middle holds the breath-root spir, with a simple long-i 'spire' on the end, helps fix the spelling.

How the word is built

• in- (into)
• spir (to breathe, from Latin spirare)
• -e