Word: imbue (verb)

Associations

"Imbue" means to fill something or someone with a feeling, quality, or idea deeply and strongly.

• You can say: "The teacher’s passion imbued the students with enthusiasm." Here, the teacher’s passion fills the students’ feelings.
• Another example: "The artist imbued her paintings with bright colors." This means the paintings are filled with bright colors.
• Or: "The speech was imbued with hope." The speech strongly expresses hope.

Synonym: "infuse" is similar but often used for liquids or more physical mixing, while "imbue" is more about feelings or qualities deeply entering something.

Substitution

Instead of "imbue," you can use:

• "fill" – but this is more general and less strong.
• "inspire" – if you mean giving someone a feeling or idea.
• "permeate" – when something spreads through completely, often used for smells or ideas. Changing the word changes how strong or deep the feeling or quality is shown.

Deconstruction

"Imbue" comes from Latin "imbuere," where "in-" means "into," and "buere" means "to moisten or wet." So originally, it meant to soak or wet something deeply. Now, it means to fill with a feeling or quality deeply, like soaking but with ideas or emotions.

Inquiry

Think about:

• Can you think of a time when someone or something filled you with a strong feeling? How would you use "imbue" to describe that?
• How is "imbue" different from just "giving" or "telling" someone something?
• What kinds of things can be imbued with feelings or ideas? Can objects be imbued, or only people?