inflame

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰel-, *bʰl̥g-“to blaze, burn; to glow, shine; bright flame, fire”
2. Latin · derived frominflammāre
3. Old French · derived fromenflamer
4. Middle English · inherited frominflammen
5. English todayinflame

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.

Words from the same roots