Link Centre Dictionary

inflame

inf·lame

US/ɪnˈfleɪm/ rare obsolete

verb

1.

cause inflammation in

  • “The repetitive motion inflamed her joint”
2.

catch fire

  • “The dried grass of the prairie kindled, spreading the flames for miles”
Synonyms
3.

cause to start burning

  • “The setting sun kindled the sky with oranges and reds”
Synonyms
4.

arouse or excite feelings and passions

  • “The ostentatious way of living of the rich ignites the hatred of the poor”
  • “The refugees”
  • “;”
Synonyms
5.

become inflamed; get sore

  • “His throat inflamed”

Origin

From Middle English inflammen, enflamen, enflaumen (“to set (something) on fire; to be on fire; (figurative) to enrage (someone); to become enraged; to incite (someone) to do evil; to inspire (someone); (medicine) to cause inflammation of (a body part)”), from Old French enflamer, enflammer (“to set (something) on fire, inflame; to be on fire; (figurative) to fuel (a debate, hatred, etc.)”) (modern French enflammer), from Latin inflammāre, the present active infinitive of inflammō (“to set (something) on fire, inflame; (figurative) to excite (someone)”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘into; to, towards’) + flammō (“to set (something) on fire; to be on fire; (figurative) to incite (someone)”) (from flamma (“flame, fire; (figurative) passion”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-, *bʰl̥g- (“to blaze, burn; to glow, shine; bright flame, fire”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)). By surface analysis, in- (prefix meaning ‘into; to, towards’) + flame.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.