To fill with or arouse passion; to make passionate or emotionally intense.
From em- (cause to be) + passion. 'Passion' comes from Latin 'passio' (suffering, feeling), ultimately from 'pati' (to suffer). The em- prefix makes it a causative verb.
The root of 'passion' is actually 'suffering'—in ancient use, passion meant something that happened to you, not something you did, which is why both 'passionate love' and 'the Passion of Christ' (his suffering) share the same word.
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