aspiro

Forms

aspīrō (present infinitive aspīrāre, perfect active aspīrāvī, supine aspīrātum); first conjugation^[1] It is also spelled adspīrō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- (“to, towards”) + spīrō (“to breathe”).^[2][1] De Vaan reconstructs spīrō as Proto-Italic *spīr/s- and thinks it may imitate the sound of breathing; it has no direct cognates.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucilius.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to breathe, and of winds to blow on something, as in Catullus;^[2] Virgil has Juno sending winds to blow for a traveller.^[2] It is also to breathe a feeling into someone, and to exhale a scent.^[2][1] Figuratively it is to favour or assist, to come near, and to aspire to something, as when Virgil says a warrior does not aspire to the horses of Achilles.^[2][3] In grammar it is to pronounce with aspiration, and Quintilian notes that the Greeks aspirate ⟨f⟩.^[2][1] English aspire comes from it through Old French around 1400.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.^[4][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the lungs breathing out.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of winds, scents and aspirations.^[2][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of aspiration in speech.^[2][5]
• c. 1400 – English aspire is borrowed through Old French.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To breathe; of winds, to blow on; to make a wind blow.^[2][3][1]
2. To breathe into, instil; to exhale a scent; to scent.^[2][1]
3. To favour, assist; to inspire.^[2][7][1]
4. To come near, approach.^[2][1]
5. To long for, aspire to.^[2][7][1]
6. (grammar) To pronounce with aspiration, aspirate.^[2][1]

Word family

• aspīrāmen
• aspīrātiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson