喜樂美語

You can think of inspire as breathing something into another person — you don't hand them a thing, you put air in them. After a good teacher inspires you, nothing in your hands has changed, but something inside has been filled up and now wants to move. That's why what gets inspired is always internal: confidence, courage, an idea, the wish to keep going.

可以想成「把一口氣吹進別人身體裡」。inspire 不是把東西交到對方手上，而是往裡面灌進空氣：好老師 inspire 你之後，你手上什麼也沒多，但裡面被充飽了，開始想動。所以 inspire 的受詞幾乎都是內在的東西——信心、勇氣、一個念頭、想繼續下去的意願，而不是實物。

From the word’s history

From Latin inspirare 'blow into, breathe upon', from in- 'in' + spirare 'to breathe'; the sense moved from 'breathe into' to 'infuse animation or influence', then to 'influence or animate with an idea or purpose' (late 14c.). The medical 'breathe in' use keeps the literal Latin picture.

來自拉丁文 inspirare「吹進、朝…呼氣」，由 in-（進入）+ spirare（呼吸）組成。詞義先從「吹一口氣進去」走向「注入生氣或影響力」，14 世紀末再變成「用一個想法或目的去帶動別人」。醫學上「吸氣」那個用法則是留在原本字面的畫面裡——同一個字的兩頭，一頭是真的空氣，一頭是比喻的那口氣。

etymonline.com — https://www.etymonline.com/word/inspire

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

容易混在一起的字在訂閱裡。容易混在一起的字需要訂閱帳號。

同家族的字

過去式 inspired過去分詞 inspired-ing inspiring三單 inspires

原始詞典資料6 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

inspireverb/ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/

  • 1

    To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by inspiration.

    • Dawning day new comfort hath inspired.
    • He knew not his Maker, and him that inspired into him an active soul.
  • 2

    To infuse into; to affect, as with a superior or supernatural influence; to fill with what animates, enlivens or exalts; to communicate inspiration to.

    • Elders should inspire children with sentiments of virtue.
    • The captain's speech was aimed to inspire her team to victory in the final.
  • 3

    To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale.

    • By means of those sulfurous coal smokes the lungs are as it were stifled and extremely oppressed, whereby they are forced to inspire and expire the air with difficulty.
    • Everything was elaborately padded, even the Myers apparatus which was to absorb carbonic acid and replace the oxygen inspired by its tenant
  • 4

    To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing.

  • 5

    archaicTo breathe into; to fill with the breath; to animate.

    • Deſcend ye nine! deſcend and ſing; / The breathing inſtruments inſpire, / VVake into voice each ſilent ſtring, / And ſvveep the ſounding lyre!
  • 6

    To spread rumour indirectly.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。