breather

Etymology

It is formed from English breathe + -er,^[2][3][4][5] first as inherited from Middle English brēthere, from brēthen (“to breathe”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who utters something; in the earliest record, in the early Wycliffite Bible (c. 1384), Saul is called a "brethere" of threats.^[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to about 1600, in the sense of a living creature.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the noun named someone who breathes out words, a speaker or proclaimer, a sense now rare.^[2][4] Philip Sidney used it figuratively of one who imparts or inspires something, chiefly in breather of life (before 1586).^[2] Shakespeare's Sonnets (1609) have the sense "one who breathes, a living creature",^[2] and Johnson (1755) quoted Antony and Cleopatra for "one that breathes, or lives".^[7] From 1696 the word was used with a modifier for one who breathes in a given way, as in heavy breather.^[2][4] In the 19th century a breather was a spell of exercise that made one breathe hard (1802),^[2] which Etymonline dates to 1836,^[3] and then a short rest to recover one's breath (1876),^[2] 1882 in Etymonline;^[3] slang of the 1840s also used it for something superlative.^[8] The technical sense, a vent or pipe for letting out gases, as from an engine's crankcase, is recorded from 1886.^[2][9]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – a person who utters or proclaims something.^[2][6]
• before 1586 – figurative, one who imparts or inspires something.^[2]
• 1609 – a person or thing that breathes; a living creature.^[2]
• 1696 – one who breathes in a specified way.^[2]
• 1802 – a spell of exercise to stimulate the breathing.^[2]
• 1876 – a short rest to recover one's breath.^[2]
• 1886 – a vent or pipe for gases, especially in an engine.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (informal) A short pause for rest: After the long climb they stopped for a breather.^[9][10][4]
2. A person or animal that breathes, especially in a particular way: a noisy breather.^[9][10][4]
3. A vent in a container or engine that lets air or gas pass, to equalize the pressure inside and outside.^[9][10][2]
4. (informal) Something strenuous that leaves one out of breath.^[10][4]
5. (rare) One who utters or proclaims something.^[4][2]

Related words

• breathe
• breath

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt