Imbue. It might not exactly be a dying word but it’s certainly not a term that gets a daily airing from the general populous. I would like to suggest that the word stands for something quite powerful and that many of us could benefit from a verb like this in our day-to-day dealings.

The dictionary definition is to inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality. Well, who couldn’t use a verb like that in our lives? Its origin, as with many English words, seems to be somewhere other than England … in this instance, the French imbu (no doubt from a Latin predecessor), meaning moistened. The word seems to have made its Anglo-debut in late Middle English, with the stronger meaning of saturate.

The word is usually used in a positive sense and I would put the case that we all could use it more in our lives—not necessarily to speak it, but to live it. For myself, I’d like to imbue my life with more of the good things—love, creativity, beauty of all kinds.

And not just to moisten my soul with these wondrous qualities, but to absolutely drench it.