infuse
/ɪnˈfjuːz/verb
To fill with a quality or steep in liquid
From Latin in- (in) + Latin fundere (to pour).
Lineage
in-
fundere
The story
Picture a Roman pouring liquid into a vessel: that simple physical action lies behind Latin infundere, built from in- “into” and fundere “to pour.” Its past participle, infusus, traveled into Middle English as infusen, recorded by the early 15th century, carrying both literal senses—steeping tea—and figurative ones, such as pouring a quality into a person. The fundere family is surprisingly crowded: it also stands behind fusion, diffuse, profuse, and the etymological family of found, while inspiration belongs to a different but equally vivid image—breathing something into someone. So to infuse courage is, etymologically, to pour it in until the person seems saturated with it.
Modern usage
A semi-professional critical-operations player who frequently screams at an iPad, according to a Urban Dictionary entry.
- Popularized by
- Urban Dictionary
- Heard in
- gaming · online slang
- See
- Urban Dictionary entry using “infuse” as a player label