enliven verb - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of enliven verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

enliven

verb
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvn/
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvn/
(formal)
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they enliven
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvn/
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvn/
he / she / it enlivens
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvnz/
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvnz/
past simple enlivened
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvnd/
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvnd/
past participle enlivened
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvnd/
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvnd/
-ing form enlivening
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvnɪŋ/
 
/ɪnˈlaɪvnɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. enliven something to make something more interesting or more fun
    Word Originmid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘restore to life, give life to’; formerly also as inliven): from 16th-cent. enlive, inlive (in the same sense), from en-, in- (as an intensifier) + life.
See enliven in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
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