enliven
English edit
Etymology edit
From en- + life + -en (intensifying verbal circumfix).[1]
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɛnˈlaɪvən/
- Rhymes: -aɪvən
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Verb edit
enliven (third-person singular simple present enlivens, present participle enlivening, simple past and past participle enlivened)
- (archaic, transitive) To give life or spirit to; to revive or animate.
- (transitive) To make more lively, cheerful or interesting.
- The game was much enlivened when both teams scored within five minutes of each other.
- 1950 May, “A Tunisian Electric Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 335:
- Travel is enlivened not only by the mixed company of French, Berbers, Arabs, and descendants of the Mediterranean-Corsairs who sit together indiscriminately, but also by itinerant vendors of macaroons, sweetmeats and the like, who, as long as they have a travel ticket, ply their wares unhindered by the [ticket] collectors.
- 2023 August 7, Kieran Pender, “Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso fire Australia into quarter-finals with win over Denmark”, in The Guardian[1]:
- The pace came off the match as the first half continued, with the occasional frenetic moment down the flanks enlivening what otherwise became a chess-like tactical battle.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
to make more lively
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See also edit
References edit
- ^ The Oxford English Dictionary (2007) states that enliven was formed by the simultaneous prefixing of en- and suffixing of -en, which, by definition, constitutes circumfixation.