enthusiasm : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: enthusiasm	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for enthusiasm
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
enthusiasm n a feeling of excitement overflowing with eager enjoyment or approval Synonym(s): exuberance, enthusiasm, ebullience a lively interest; "enthusiasm for his program is growing"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Enthusiasm \Enthu"siasm\, n. [Gr. [?], fr. [?] to be inspired or possessed by the god, fr. [?], [?], inspired: cf. enthousiasme. See {Entheal}, {Theism}.] 1. Inspiration as if by a divine or superhuman power; ecstasy; hence, a conceit of divine possession and revelation, or of being directly subject to some divine impulse. Enthusiasm is founded neither on reason nor divine revelation, but rises from the conceits of a warmed or overweening imagination. --Locke. 2. A state of impassioned emotion; transport; elevation of fancy; exaltation of soul; as, the poetry of enthusiasm. Resolutions adopted in enthusiasm are often repented of when excitement has been succeeded by the wearing duties of hard everyday routine. --Froude. Exhibiting the seeming contradiction of susceptibility to enthusiasm and calculating shrewdness. --Bancroft. 3. Enkindled and kindling fervor of soul; strong excitement of feeling on behalf of a cause or a subject; ardent and imaginative zeal or interest; as, he engaged in his profession with enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. --Emerson. 4. Lively manifestation of joy or zeal. Philip was greeted with a tumultuous enthusiasm. --Prescott.