respiro

Forms

respīrō (present infinitive respīrāre, perfect active respīrāvī, supine respīrātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + spīrō (“to breathe”).^[2][1] De Vaan thinks spīrō may imitate the sound of breathing; it has no direct cognates.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius has it first, of someone who toils hard and gets no chance to take breath.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is to recover one's breath: Cicero observes that people under water can no more breathe near the surface than in the depths.^[2] Terence uses it of breathing again after a fright, and Cicero of a breathing space from trouble: in Rome there is no room to breathe.^[2] Lucretius has winds that blow back.^[5] It is also simply to breathe out, and to breathe at all;^[2] Calpurnius uses it of a pipe that sounds, Statius of a place giving off bad air.^[2] English respire comes from it, partly through French, in the late 14th century.^[6] Church Latin glosses it to breathe, to find relief and to sigh with longing.^[7]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius of pausing for breath.^[2][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of breathing again after a fright.^[2][4]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of winds blowing back.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of breathing and of a breathing space.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as respire.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To recover one's breath; to recover from fear, breathe again.^[2][5][1]
2. To take breath, pause; to have a respite; of an activity, to abate.^[2][5][1]
3. To breathe out, exhale; to breathe, respire; of a pipe, to sound; of things, to give off a vapour.^[2][5][1]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To find relief; to sigh with longing.^[7]

Word family

• respīrāculum
• respīrāmen
• respīrāmentum
• respīrātiō
• respīrātus
• respīrātōrius

Related words

• aspīrō
• cōnspīrō
• exspīrō
• īnspīrō
• interspīrō
• perspīrō
• prōspīrō
• spīrō
• suspīrō
• English respire

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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