breathe English · revision 6680

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1200}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɹiːð/; /bɹið/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English brethen, formed from the noun [[breath]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998) It is not found in Old English, but it keeps the original long vowel of the Old English noun bræþ.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To breathe in and out; to inhale a scent: about 1200 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED's first sense, to exhale or steam, is from before 1300 and is now obsolete.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To emit an odour is from about 1400, and figuratively to be redolent of something from 1697.^(OED 1989) To exhale air from the lungs is from 1398, and to breathe in and out, the ordinary current sense, from 1377.^(OED 1989) To be alive follows.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) ''To breathe one's last'', to die, is from the 1590s,^(Etymonline) and ''to breathe down someone's neck'' is by 1946.^(Etymonline) In Yorkshire and Lincolnshire dialect to breathe a horse was to give it time to recover its breath.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – to breathe.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1300 – to exhale, steam (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1377 – to inhale and exhale.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – breathe one's last.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1946 – breathe down someone's neck.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To take air into the [[lung|alt=lungs]] and let it out again.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To be alive.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To say quietly; to [[whisper]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To pause to rest or recover one's breath.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a fabric or material, to allow air or moisture to pass through.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To instil or impart: ''breathe new life into''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[breathable]]

+ * [[breather]]

+ * [[fire-breathing]]

+ * [[inbreathe]]

+ * [[outbreathe]]

+ * [[unbreathed]]

+ * [[unbreathing]]

+ * [[breathing room]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[breath]]

+ * [[breathless]]

+ * [[breathtaking]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}