Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
enervate, innervate, innerve (vv.)
Here the prefix e- means the same as the prefix un-, and to enervate is to “unnerve or to weaken.” If you’re enervated, you have no verve, zeal, or nervous energy. The word is sometimes mistakenly used to mean the opposite, however, which is essentially what the much rarer innerve and innervate mean, “to provide with nerve(s), or to give courage or strength to.” To use enervate to mean innervate is Substandard and a shibboleth.
