sospirare

Forms

sospirare (first-person singular present sospìro, first-person singular past historic sospirài, past participle sospiràto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin suspīrō (“to breathe deeply; to sigh”), formed from sub- (“under”) and spīrō (“to breathe”).^[2][3][4][1] The same verb is French soupirer, Occitan sospirar and Romanian suspina, while Spanish suspirar and Portuguese suspirar were passed down by learned use.^[3][5][6] De Vaan thinks the Latin verb may imitate the sound of breathing, and finds no direct cognates.^[7]

The old form Old Italian suspirare keeps the Latin vowel.^[8][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first example is from Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, in the sense “to sigh” from anguish, longing or grief.^[2] The GDLI quotes his lines S'io doglio no è maraviglia / e s'io sospiro e lamento (“If I grieve it is no wonder, and if I sigh and lament”).^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the poetry of the Dolce Stil Novo, the sospiri became, with disiri and martiri, a fixed part of the lyric vocabulary;^[2] Migliorini notes that from Cino da Pistoia on they were mere convention.^[2]

The transitive sense “to long for” appears in Petrarch before 1374, and “to wait anxiously for” in Torquato Tasso before 1595.^[2] From this comes farsi sospirare, to keep someone waiting.^[12][9] In literary use the verb could also mean “to blow gently”, of the wind, as in Gabriello Chiabrera, and “to mourn” someone.^[13][9]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the verb and the noun sospiro.^[2]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses sospiroso “full of sighs”.^[2]
• Before 1337 – Cino da Pistoia uses l'ultimo sospiro for the last moment of life.^[2]
• Before 1374 – Petrarch uses the verb as transitive, “to long for”.^[2]
• Before 1595 – Torquato Tasso uses it for “to wait anxiously for”.^[2]
• Before 1638 – Chiabrera uses sospiro for a breath of wind.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To sigh, from sorrow, worry or longing: Leggeva la lettera e sospirava.^[4][12][14]
2. (intransitive, figurative) To pine, suffer;^[4][12][15] sospirare per qualcuno, to be in love with someone.^[4][12][15]
3. (intransitive, literary) Of the wind, to blow gently.^[4][12][15]
4. (transitive) To long for: Sospirava da mesi la fine degli esami..^[4][12][14]
5. (transitive) To wait anxiously and long for;^[4][12][9] farsi sospirare, to keep people waiting, to be seldom seen.^[4][12][9]
6. (transitive, archaic, literary) To mourn, lament.^[4][12][15]

Word family

• sospiro
• sospiroso
• sospirato
• sospirevole

Related words

• spirare
• Latin suspīrō
• French soupirer

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3562
9. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 932
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 533
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana