inflame, v.
(ɪnˈfleɪm)
Forms: α. 4 enflaumme, 4–5 -flaume, -flawme, -flamme, 5 -fla(u)mbe, 5–9 enflame. β. 4 inflaume, 4–6 -flamme, 6 -flambe, 5– inflame.
[ME. a. OF. enflammer, -flamber, -flamer = Sp. inflamar, It. infiammare:—L. inflammāre, f. in- (in-2) + flamma flame. From the 16th c. the prefix has usually been in-, and the radical has the same phonetic history as flame n. and v.]
I. trans.
1. To cause to blaze or burst into flames; to set ablaze; to set on fire; to kindle.
| 1382 Wyclif Mal. iv. 1 Alle proude men..shuln be stobil; and the day cummynge shal enflawme hem. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) ii. lx. (1859) 58 Of wexe ne of matche..ther cometh neuer stynke, but yf that it be fyrst enflammed with fyre. 1582–8 Hist. Jas. VI (1804) 9 They..kendlit thair traine of gwn powder quhilk inflamit the timber of the haill hous. 1626 Bacon Sylva §361 It is Heat, rather than Flame, which neuerthelesse is sufficient to Enflame the Oyl. 1631 Heywood Eng. Eliz. (1641) 176 marg., Gardiner had inflamed many Martyrs, and hath now his body inflamed. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Cc iv b, The fuse..inflames the powder. 1826 Henry Elem. Chem. I. 237 Action of platinum in inflaming hydrogen gas. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. viii. 104 Fire will inflame straw. |
| fig. 1595 Shakes. John v. i. 7 Vse all your power To stop their marches 'fore we are enflam'd: Our discontented Counties doe reuolt. |
b. transf. To light up or redden as if with flame; to ‘fire’.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 73 Certayn oxen or bulles of fyre so grete that they enflamed alle the region of the ayer. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 577, I will my self conduct thee on thy Way, When next the Southing Sun inflames the Day. 1822 Shelley Chas. I, i. 119 The torches Inflame the night to the eastward. 1892 C. Haviland in Pall Mall G. 8 Aug. 3/1 The red, reflected sky Inflames the river, tints the trees. |
2. fig. To set on fire with passion, strong feeling, or desire; to excite passionately.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter civ. 18 Þe worde of oure lord enflaummyd him. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, George 567 Hou dacyane..wes inflammyt of yre & tene. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) Pref. 2 Pride enuy and couetise has so enflaumbed þe hertes. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. viii. 330 The wil is heet and inflamyd into loue. 1560 A. L. tr. Calvin's Foure Serm. Songe Ezech. iii. 61 If we be not then enflamed to praise him with full mouth. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 361 The multitud easelie inflambed gave the alarme. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 242 Honour, Revenge, Contempt and Shame Did equally their Breasts enflame. 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. III. 18/1 Having their minds enflamed with passion. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 69 Court and country-party enflamed into a civil war by an unhappy concurrence of circumstances. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 215 The warning..had served only to enflame Suleiman with fresh ardour to seek him out. 1867 Smiles Huguenots Eng. iii. (1880) 40 [They] did their utmost to inflame the minds of the people against the heretics. |
b. To fire, kindle, rouse (passion, etc.).
| c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 2 It inflawmes þe affeccyone. 1573–80 Baret Alv. I 141 His anger was inflamed againe. 1732 in Swift's Lett. (1766) II. 267 The motive that inflamed his passions upon that subject [Religion]. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) II. xviii. 162 The reports..of the first adventurers had inflamed the cupidity of many. |
3. To heat, make hot; esp. to raise (the body or blood) to a feverish or morbid heat; to excite inflammation in.
| 1530 Palsgr. 534/2 His lyver is al enflamed with drinkyng of hote wynes. 1589 Cogan Haven Health ccxvii. (1636) 238 White wine inflameth or heateth least of all wines. 1599 H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner N viij b, Hurtes..hot constitutions, by inflaming the inward parts, and blood. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 282, I put some of the wood into my mouth and chewed it;..for half an hour my mouth was inflamed as if I had taken so much Vitrol. 1712–14 Pope Rape Lock iv. 69 If e'er thy Gnome could..Like Citron⁓waters matrons cheeks inflame. 1775 R. Chandler Trav. Asia M. (1825) I. 340 We had..wooden lattices to admit the air, while cool; and with shutters to exclude it, when inflamed. 1847 Tennyson Princ. i. 59, I saw my father's face Grow long and troubled..Inflamed with wrath. 1897 Flor. Marryat Blood Vampire xv, Her eyes were inflamed with crying. |
b. Of a stimulant. (Uniting senses 2 and 3.)
| 1560 Bible (Genev.) Isa. v. 11 Wo vnto them, that rise vp early to followe drunkennes, and to them that continue vntil night, til the wine do inflame them. a 1586 Sir H. Sidney in Ussher's Lett. (1686) App. 23 Lest, being enforced to drink [wine] upon the sudden, you should find your self enflamed. 1678 R. L'Estrange Seneca's Mor. (1702) 320 Others are enflam'd by Wine. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. ix. 116 Stimulants like wine inflame the senses. |
4. To add heat or fuel to, to aggravate, augment in violence, exacerbate.
| 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 353 How happy might I bee, if..I might either enkindle this desire, where hitherto it hath not beene, or might enflame it or adde heate vnto it, where it is? 1706 Collier Reply Filmer (1730) 415 The Repetition of an ill Thing heightens the Degree, and inflames the Guilt. 1709 Addison Tatler No. 123 ¶3 This Stream..rather inflamed than quenched their Thirst. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. v. 540 The customary disputes were renewed and inflamed. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 679 Had he any right to inflame an existing animosity? |
† b. To augment (a price, or amount charged).
| 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1692) 351 The interest must inflame the price of Irish commodities. 1696 Stanhope Chr. Pattern (1711) 187 Beware lest this busy and malicious impertinence do not inflame the reckoning. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii. i, We passengers are to be taxed to pay all these fineries. I have often seen a good side-board,..though not actually put in the bill, inflame a reckoning confoundedly. |
II. intr.
5. To burst into flame; to catch fire. † b. transf. To become very hot (obs.).
| 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 296 Long becalmed, whereby the ayre inflam'd, and Sea gave a fierie reflection. 1783 Phil. Trans. LXXIII. 227 When the metal is red-hot, it melts and inflames instantaneously. 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. I. xii. 493 It does not inflame, unless mixed with atmospherical or with vital air. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 89 By the friction of solids..the axle trees of carriages sometimes inflame. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (1879) I. iii. 85 It first smokes and then violently inflames. |
6. To become hot or excited with passion; to glow with ardour of feeling.
| 1559 Mirr. Mag., Jack Cade xiii, I therby enflamed much the more. 1621 Quarles Div. Poems, Esther vi, Their fell disdaine..inflam'd. 1824 Carlyle Schiller App. ii. (1872) 272, I know how soon your noble heart inflames when sympathy and humanity appeal to it. |
7. To become inflamed under the action of disease or stimulants; to be affected with inflammation.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 176 Sometime the liver of the Fox inflameth. 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 162 The Fibres will not fret or inflame as soon. 1753 N. Torriano Gangr. Sore Throat 126 The Blister inflamed to a great Degree. 1755 Man x. 3 Their high blood being apt to inflame with wine. 1892 Argosy Mar. 181 He was compelled to drink sparingly lest his head should inflame. 1898 J. Hutchinson Archives Surg. IX. 313 The patches do not ulcerate or inflame. |