soupirer

Forms

soupirer^[1] Old French suspirer (about 980), sospirer (about 1130), souspirer (13th century); soupirer from the 12th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French suspirer, inherited from Latin suspīrō (“to breathe deeply, sigh; to say with a sigh”).^[5][3][4][6] The Old French form was altered after other words beginning with ⟨sou-⟩.^[3] The Latin verb is a compound of sub-, marking upward movement, and spīrō (“to blow, breathe”), which has no exact match outside Latin.^[3][2][1]

Cognate with Romanian suspina, Italian sospirare, Occitan sospirar, Catalan sospirar, Spanish suspirar and Portuguese suspirar.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Passion of the late 10th century it means to heave sighs from emotion, of Jesus: De son piu cor greu suspiret.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

By about 1160 the Roman d'Eneas uses it for the pain of love, and soupirant “lover” is recorded about 1220;^[5][3] soupirer pour “to be in love with” is now archaic or ironic.^[5][3] In the 1170s it also meant to show grief or regret,^[5] and soupirer après (1538) to long for something, now dated.^[5][3]

From about 1530 the verb was said of soft sounds, of a person and then of the wind (1552); the transitive “to sing in elegiac mode” (1389) has become poetic.^[3][7] In 1867 Delvau records the mocking sense “to fart”.^[5] The noun soupir (12th century) was formed from it.^[9][3]

Timeline

• c. 980 – Suspirer in the Passion.^[5][2]
• c. 1160 – Used of love in the Roman d'Eneas.^[5]
• c. 1220 – Soupirant “lover”.^[5]
• 1389 – Transitive use, “to sing elegiacally”.^[7][3]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records souspirer apres.^[5]
• 1606 – Soupirer pour in Régnier.^[5]
• 1867 – Delvau records the slang sense “to fart”.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sigh, heave a sigh: soupirer de soulagement.^[7][1][5]
2. (dated) To be in love, soupirer pour quelqu'un: to sigh for, be in love with.^[7][3]
3. (dated) Soupirer après: to yearn for, long for.^[7][1]
4. (poetic) Of the wind or water, to make a soft, plaintive sound.^[7][3]
5. (transitive) To say with a sigh, (poetic) to sing in an elegiac strain.^[7]

Word family

• soupir
• soupirant

Related words

• inspirer
• expirer
• respirer
• soupirail
• aspirer
• transpirer
• Latin spīrō

Usage notes

The proverb cœur qui soupire n'a pas ce qu'il désire means that one who sighs lacks what one longs for.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 474a
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France