New Word A Day

Impetus

Pronounced:
<imp-pit-tus>

To encourage someone to action.  To drive something forward.

My use: 
Your pep talk was a great impetus!  I am now excited about the meeting.

Literary use:
By Leo Tolstoy
Gifted as he was with the quality his friend most lacked, practical tenacity of purpose, he knew exactly how to give impetus to an enterprise without effort or shock.

Memory trick:
impetus

imp (reminds of) = impress
et (sounds like) =  it
us (reminds of) = us
impress it to us

Listen: Impetus