breath English · revision 4735

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 893|origins=gem-pro *brēþaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /breθ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|breth]], [[inh|ang|brǣþ|t=odour, scent, exhalation, vapour]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*brēþaz|t=smell, exhalation]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of Old High German brādam “breath, steam” and German Brodem “steam”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart and Hoad derive it from [[ine-pro|*bʰreh₁-|alt=*bhrē-|t=to burn, heat]], the root of Old English brǣdan “to roast” and of [[brood]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) while Watkins suggests a root *gwhre- “to breathe, smell”.^(Etymonline) The Old English word for air from the lungs was æþm.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Odour, smell or scent: about 893 in the OED,^(OED 1989) before 900 in Barnhart, in Alfred's Orosius, of an exhalation from something cooking or burning.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Vapour or steam given off by heated things is from before 1300.^(OED 1989) The duration of a breath, a moment, is from the early 13th century,^(Etymonline) and the ability to breathe, hence life, from about 1300.^(Etymonline) The air taken into and out of the lungs is from about 1340,^(OED 1989) and a gentle blowing, a breath of wind, from about 1325.^(OED 1989) A single act of breathing is from the late 15th century.^(Etymonline) The original long vowel, kept in the verb [[breathe]], was shortened in the noun probably as late as the 1600s, as in sheath and sheathe.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) In some dialects breath still means a smell, especially an unpleasant one.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 893 – odour, smell.^(OED 1989)

+ * a. 1200 – the form ''breath''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 13th century – a moment.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – life.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1340 – air breathed in and out.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 15th century – a single breath.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The air taken into and let out of the [[lung]]s.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The act of breathing, or a single [[respiration]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The ability to breathe easily: ''out of breath''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A slight movement of air: ''a breath of wind''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A slight sign or hint: ''a breath of scandal''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Life or spirit.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[breather]]

+ * [[breathless]]

+ * [[breathtaking]]

+ * [[breathy]]

+ * [[breathalyzer]]

+ * [[interbreath]]

+ * [[baby's breath]]

+ * [[breath test]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[breathe]]

+ * [[brood]]

+ * [[breed]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}