exhilarate

English

Etymology

From Latin exhilarare (“to gladden, make merry, delight”), from ex (“from”) + hilarare (“to cheer up, gladden”), from hilaris (“glad”).

Verb

exhilarate (third-person singular simple present exhilarates, present participle exhilarating, simple past and past participle exhilarated)

1. (archaic) To make happy, cheer up.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.2.4:

     Many such tricks are ordinarily put in practice by great men, to exhilarate themselves and others, all which are harmless jests, and have their good uses.

2. To refreshingly thrill.
3. To bring new life to.

Related terms

• exhilaration
• hilarious
• Hilary

External links

• exhilarate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• exhilarate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Latin

Verb

exhilarāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of exhilarō