enliven

From en- +‎ life +‎ -en (intensifying verbal circumfix).[1]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɛnˈlaɪvən/

  Rhymes: -aɪvən

• Audio (Southern England)

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enliven (third-person singular simple present enlivens, present participle enlivening, simple past and past participle enlivened)

1. (archaic, transitive) To give life or spirit to; to revive or animate.
2. (transitive) To make more lively, cheerful or interesting.

   The game was much enlivened when both teams scored within five minutes of each other.

   • 1950 May, “A Tunisian Electric Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 335:

     Travel is enlivened not only by the mixed company of French, Berbers, Arabs, and descendants of the Mediterranean-Corsairs who sit together indiscriminately, but also by itinerant vendors of macaroons, sweetmeats and the like, who, as long as they have a travel ticket, ply their wares unhindered by the [ticket] collectors.

   • 2023 August 7, Kieran Pender, “Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso fire Australia into quarter-finals with win over Denmark”, in The Guardian‎:

     The pace came off the match as the first half continued, with the occasional frenetic moment down the flanks enlivening what otherwise became a chess-like tactical battle.

• liven
• liven up

• enlivener
• enlivenment

• animate
• brighten
• cheer up
• invigorate
• quicken
• vitalize