respiration

Forms

respiration f (plural respirations)^[1] Middle French respiracion.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin respīrātiō (“breathing, pause for breath, exhalation”), taken over about 1370,^[4][5][6] as Old Occitan respiracio also was in the 14th century.^[5][7] The Latin noun is formed from respīrō (“to breathe out, breathe”), from spīrō (“to blow”).^[6][7][8] The FEW lists it under the Latin verb.^[9] Seen from within French, it is respirer with the suffix -ation.^[1]

Cognate with Spanish respiración and Italian respirazione.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1370 in Guy de Chauliac's Chirurgie, in the sense “act of breathing”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

From the start it was a term of physiology for the breathing of animals and man.^[5] Figurative uses such as “taking heart again, coming back to life” appear in the 15th century but are now archaic.^[4][5][2]

Later uses keep the idea of breath and rhythm: in music (1845) it is the taking of breath in singing at the proper places.^[4][5] Scientific and technical uses multiply from the 18th century: the notion was extended to plants (1783), and the phrases respiration artificielle (1834) and respiration assistée (1964) name methods of helping a person breathe.^[5][4]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – Guy de Chauliac uses it for the act of breathing.^[4]
• c. 1450 – Figurative sense “taking heart again”.^[5]
• 1783 – Bulliard speaks of the respiration of plants.^[4]
• 1834 – First record of respiration artificielle.^[4][5]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records the musical sense.^[4][10]
• 1964 – Respiration assistée is recorded.^[5][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Breathing: the act or manner of drawing air in and letting it out: il retenait sa respiration sous l'eau.^[11][4]
2. (physiology) Respiration, the function by which living beings take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide; also said of plants.^[10][8]
3. Respiration artificielle: artificial respiration, given to someone who has stopped breathing.^[8][4]
4. (music) The taking of breath at chosen points in singing or playing.^[4][5]

Related words

• respirer
• respiratoire
• respirable
• Latin respīrātiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
3. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 308b
10. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert