Other forms: instilled; instills
Parents work hard to develop, or instill, positive beliefs and values in their children. Interestingly, there's no corresponding word for when parents pass down their bad habits.
Instill comes from the Latin verb stillare, meaning "to drip." For some people, this word provides an apt metaphor for the way that parents and teachers cultivate understanding in young learners, patiently introducing wisdom "drop by drop." (Of course, for others, instill conjures up the image of a persistently dripping faucet that just won't be quiet.)