inflate

English

Etymology

From Latin īnflātus, from the verb īnflō. Doublet of inblow.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: ĭn-flāt', IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfleɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪt

Girl inflating a red balloon by blowing into it.

Verb

inflate (third-person singular simple present inflates, present participle inflating, simple past and past participle inflated)

1. (transitive) To enlarge an object by pushing air (or a gas) into it; to raise or expand abnormally

   You inflate a balloon by blowing air into it.

   • 1782, John Scott of Amwell, An Essay on Painting:

     When passion's tumults in the bosom rise, / Inflate the features, and enrage the eyes.

2. (intransitive) To enlarge by filling with air (or a gas).

   The balloon will inflate if you blow into it.

3. (figurative) To swell; to puff up.

   to inflate somebody with pride or vanity

   • 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Vivien”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 137:

     [I]f they find / Some stain or blemish in a name of note, / Not grieving that their greatest are so small, / Inflate themselves with some insane delight, / And judge all nature from her feet of clay, […]

4. (transitive, computing) To decompress (data) that was previously deflated.
5. (figurative, transitive) to misrepresent something as being more important, better, or worse than it actually is; to exaggerate.

   The Gaza Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas, has a tendency to inflate the number of Palestinian casualties as collateral damage caused by the Israeli military.

Antonyms

• deflate

Derived terms

• inflated
• inflatingly

Related terms

• inflation

Translations

(transitive) to enlarge the volume occupied by an object

• Arabic: نَفَخَ (nafaḵa)
• Armenian: փչել (hy) (pʻčʻel)
• Bulgarian: надувам (bg) (naduvam)
• Catalan: inflar (ca), unflar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 充氣／充气 (zh) (chōngqì)

• Czech: nafouknout pf
• Dutch: opblazen (nl)
• Estonian: täis puhuma
• Finnish: täyttää (fi)
• French: gonfler (fr), enfler (fr)
• Friulian: enflâ, sglonfâ
• German: aufblasen (de), aufpumpen (de), aufblähen (de)
• Greek: φουσκώνω (el) (fouskóno)

  Ancient: φυσιόω (phusióō)

• Hungarian: felfúj (hu)
• Icelandic: blása upp
• Italian: enfiare (it)
• Japanese: 膨らませる (ja) (ふくらませる, fukuramaseru)
• Latin: inflō, sufflō
• Latvian: piepūst
• Macedonian: надувува (naduvuva), дува (duva)
• Maori: whakamakoha
• Polish: dmuchać (pl) impf, nadmuchiwać (pl) impf, nadmuchać pf, nadymać (pl) pf
• Portuguese: inchar (pt), inflar (pt)
• Romanian: umfla (ro)
• Russian: надува́ть (ru) impf (naduvátʹ), наду́ть (ru) pf (nadútʹ), наполня́ть (ru) impf (napolnjátʹ), напо́лнить (ru) pf (napólnitʹ) (to fill with gas, air - га́зом, во́здухом), нака́чивать (ru) impf (nakáčivatʹ), накача́ть (ru) pf (nakačátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: sèid
• Slovak: nafúkať
• Spanish: inflar (es), hinchar (es)
• Swedish: blåsa upp
• Turkish: şişirmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: надува́ти impf (naduváty), надима́ти impf (nadymáty), наду́ти pf (nadúty)

(transitive) to enlarge by filling with gas

• Arabic: نَفَخَ (nafaḵa)
• Bulgarian: напомпвам (napompvam)
• Czech: nafouknout pf
• Finnish: täyttää (fi)
• French: gonfler (fr)
• German: aufblasen (de)
• Hindi: फुलाना (hi) (phulānā)
• Latin: sufflō
• Polish: pompować balon impf, napompować balon pf
• Portuguese: encher (pt)

(intransitive) to become enlarged by being filled with gas

• Bulgarian: надувам се (naduvam se)
• Catalan: inflar (ca), unflar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 膨脹／膨胀 (zh) (péngzhàng)

• Finnish: täyttyä (fi)
• French: se gonfler, gonfler (fr)
• Greek: φουσκώνω (el) (fouskóno)
• Hungarian: felfúvódik (hu)
• Japanese: 膨らむ (ja) (ふくらむ, fukuramu)
• Korean: 부풀리다 (ko) (bupullida)
• Macedonian: надувува (naduvuva), дува (duva)
• Maori: whakamakoha
• Ottoman Turkish: شیشمك (şişmek), قبارمق (kabarmak)
• Russian: надува́ться (ru) impf (naduvátʹsja), наду́ться (ru) pf (nadútʹsja), наполня́ться (ru) impf (napolnjátʹsja), напо́лниться (ru) pf (napólnitʹsja) (to be filled with gas, air - га́зом, во́здухом), нака́чиваться (ru) impf (nakáčivatʹsja), накача́ться (ru) pf (nakačátʹsja)
• Thai: ขยาย (th) (kà-yǎai)
• Turkish: şişmek (tr)

to decompress data

• Finnish: avata (fi)
• Spanish: descomprimir (es), desempaquetar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 부풀리다 (ko) (bupullida)
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 擴張／扩张 (zh) (kuòzhāng), ^{(please verify)} 扩张 (zh) (kuòzhāng), ^{(please verify)} 打气 (zh) (dǎqì), ^{(please verify)} 打氣／打气 (zh) (dǎqì)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} inflar (es)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} blåsa upp

Latin

Participle

īnflāte

1. vocative masculine singular of īnflātus

Adverb

īnflātē (comparative īnflātius, superlative īnflātissimē)

1. haughtily, proudly, pompously

References

• “inflate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “inflate”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• inflate in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• inflate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Spanish

Verb

inflate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of inflar combined with te