innervate

This word is used most often in biology and medicine. It means to supply nerves to a body part so it can send or receive signals. For example, nerves innervate muscles and help them move. It can also mean to stir someone or something into action or give fresh energy. In that broader sense, you might say a bold idea innervated the group and got people moving again.

The word "innervate" comes from the language of anatomy. Its main meaning is very specific: to supply nerves to an organ, muscle, or other body part. When a part of the body is innervated, it is connected to the nervous system and can take part in feeling, movement, or other body functions. Doctors and biology texts often use the word in this literal sense when describing which nerves serve which structures.

The word also has a broader, figurative use. In that sense, it can mean to stimulate, animate, or move something to action. A speech might innervate a crowd, or a new plan might innervate a tired team. This use is understandable and appears in general writing, but it is less exact than the medical one.

So the safest way to understand the word is this: first, it refers to nerve supply in the body; second, by extension, it can describe giving energy or pushing something into action. If you remember the nerve-based meaning first, the rest of the word's uses make much more sense.