If we instill confidence in someone, we try to transmit it to them
The verb imbue refers to instill or influence . The etymological origin of the term is found in the Latin word imbuĕre .
Meaning and examples
The act of imbuing is referred to as imbuión or imbuimiento . In this way, if someone manages to “imbue new ideas in a town” , to mention one possibility , it could be indicated that said individual managed to promote the “imbuing of new ideas” .
For example: “The coach will seek to instill in the players so that they maintain motivation even though the tournament is almost defined,” “With his words, the president tried to instill confidence in the population,” “I thought that spending a few days in a "Solitary beach was going to give me some peace, but I was wrong."
The first example presents the situation of a sports team that receives inspiration and motivation from its coach to continue playing with strength and determination until the end of the tournament, despite the fact that they have already achieved victory on more than one occasion and are close to completing it. The second sentence tells us about a president who, in a moment of crisis and lack of clarity regarding the situation in the country, addresses his people to infect them with confidence in the future.
In this case, imbue is synonymous with "transmit", that is, making a transfer of energy , even if it is not symbolic, with the intention of making the recipient feel better. Finally we come to the example of a person who went to a not very crowded beach with the intention of relaxing, that it would imbue him with some peace, but the result was not as expected.
In context
Imbue can be associated with infiltrate , inspire or convince . Take the case of a group of journalists interested in environmental problems. These communication professionals seek to promote a media agenda where problems linked to ecology take place on television, radio, newspapers and Internet portals. According to these communicators, the ecological perspective must imbue the work of those who work in the media so that, with their informative work, they contribute to raising awareness about the matter.
This situation also tells us about a strategy that journalism can take advantage of to positively influence its audience . In this particular case, it is about raising awareness about caring for the environment, something that should concern us all, since modern life has many characteristics that go against the planet itself. Of course, in the same way, a group of people with a media presence can spread negative or harmful messages .
It is important to imbue a message of environmental protection
Now suppose that a young man plans to buy a certain model of car and tells his friends about it, who, upon finding out about his project , begin to tell him that said vehicle usually has mechanical problems, consumes a lot of fuel and is too expensive considering the benefits it provides. After listening to them, the boy lets himself be influenced by those opinions and, after the talk, he gives up on the purchase.
This case is less clear as to the quality of the message with which the protagonist is imbued. This happens because, although the intention of your friends is clearly good and disinterested, the comments they make are negative, at least as far as the quality of the car you want to buy is concerned. In any case, we could say that in every message that aims to convince someone of something there are two sides : a recommendation that the result of their actions be positive and a warning that if they choose another path, unfortunate consequences await them.