transpire

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tɹænˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ (UK); /tɹænˈspaɪɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French transpirer,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Medieval Latin transpirare,^[2][5][6] from Latin trans- (“through”) + spiro (“to breathe”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Barnhart treats it partly as a back-formation from transpiration.^[3] It is related to spirit and perspire.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To pass off or give off as vapour through pores (1597).^[3][4][5][7]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively the word came to mean to leak out, become known (1741),^[3][4] a use Johnson disliked as a needless import from French.^[4] The sense “to happen, take place” followed by 1755–75,^[3][4] probably from a misunderstanding of the “become known” sense.^[3][1] Plants were said to transpire water through their leaves from the 17th century.^[1][5]

Timeline

• before 1425 – transpiracioun, exhalation.^[3]
• 1597 – to give off as vapour.^[3][5][7]
• 1741 – to become known.^[3][4]
• 1755 – to happen.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To become known; to come to light.
2. To happen or occur.
3. To give off water vapour, as through the pores of the skin or the stomata of leaves.

Word family

• transpirable
• untranspired
• transpiration

Related words

• perspire
• respire
• spirit

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that transpire “become known” was first objected to as a Gallicism but has long been standard,^[2] while transpire “happen” has been criticized for over a century as pretentious and unetymological;^[2] in its Usage Panel survey acceptance of this sense rose from 38 to 58 percent.^[2] Wiktionary similarly notes that some critics discourage it though it has been common since the 19th century.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press