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enkindle

[en-kin-dl]
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verb (used with or without object), en·kin·dled, en·kin·dling.
  1. to kindle into flame, ardor, activity, etc.
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Origin of enkindle

First recorded in 1540–50; en-1 + kindle1
Related formsen·kin·dler, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for enkindle

fire, kindle, burn, ignite

Examples from the Web for enkindle

Historical Examples of enkindle

  • It was a sky the sun did not illuminate or enkindle, as is usual at sunsets.

    A Pair of Blue Eyes

    Thomas Hardy

  • Absence—a momentary separation—was enough to enkindle these flames.

    The Empress Josephine

    Louise Muhlbach

  • But, perhaps, in no heart there did it enkindle such a fire as in mine.

  • Enkindle this dear earth that bore us,In the hour of peril purified.

  • Nativity alone, however, is not often sufficient to enkindle the fire of patriotism in our hearts.

British Dictionary definitions for enkindle

enkindle

verb (tr)
  1. to set on fire; kindle
  2. to excite to activity or ardour; arouse
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Derived Formsenkindler, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for enkindle

v.

1540s (literal), 1580s (figurative), from en- (1) + kindle. Related: Enkindled; enkindling.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper