enerve

See also: énervé, énerve, and enervé

English

Etymology

Compare French énerver. See enervate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɜː(ɹ)v/

Verb

enerve (third-person singular simple present enerves, present participle enerving, simple past and past participle enerved)

1. (obsolete) To weaken; to enervate.
   • 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 2:

     Such object hath the power to soften and tame
     Severest temper , smooth the rugged'st brow ,
     Enerve , and with voluptuous hope dissolve

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “enerve”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• Vereen, evener, veneer

Portuguese

Verb

enerve

1. inflection of enervar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

enerve

1. inflection of enervar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative