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Origin and history of suspiration

suspiration(n.)

"act of sighing, the fetching of a long, deep breath," early 15c. (Chauliac), suspiracioun, from Latin suspirationem (nominative suspiratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of suspirare "draw a deep breath" (see suspire).

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to suspiration

suspire(v.)

c. 1500, suspiren, "to sigh; fetch a long, deep breath," originally figurative, "yearn" (for something), "aspire (to); strive," from Anglo-French suspirer, Old French sospirer (Modern French soupirer) and directly from Latin suspirare "to draw a deep breath, heave a sigh," from assimilated form of sub "under" (see sub-) + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit (n.)).

From 1590s as "to breathe;" 1650s as "breathe with difficulty." Related: Suspired; suspiring.

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    sigh
    mid-13c., sighen, "make a prolonged and more or less audible heavy breath indicative of some emotion," probably a Middle English back-formation from sighte, past tense of Old English sican "to sigh," which is perhaps echoic of the sound of sighing. Related: Sighed; sighing. By 13
    defenestration
    1620, "the action of throwing out of a window," from Latin fenestra "window." A word invented for one incident: the "Defenestration of Prague," May 21, 1618, when two Catholic deputies to the Bohemian national assembly and a secretary were tossed out the window of the castle of H
    sad
    Old English sæd "sated, full, having had one's fill (of food, drink, fighting, etc.), weary of," from Proto-Germanic *sathaz (source also of Old Norse saðr, Middle Dutch sat, Dutch zad, Old High German sat, German satt, Gothic saþs "satiated, sated, full"), from PIE *seto-, from
    irony
    "figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning" (usually covert sarcasm under a serious or friendly pretense), c. 1500, from Latin ironia, from Greek eironeia "dissimulation, assumed ignorance," from eiron "dissembler," perhaps related to e
    wanton
    early 14c., wan-towen, "resistant to control; willful," from Middle English privative word-forming element wan- "wanting, lacking, deficient," from Old English wan-, which was used interchangeably with un- (1), and is cognate with Dutch wan- (as in wanbestuur "misgovernment," wan
    diligent
    "constant in effort to accomplish what is undertaken," mid-14c., from Old French diligent (14c.) and directly from Latin diligentem (nominative diligens) "attentive, assiduous, careful," present-participle adjective from diligere "single out, value highly, esteem, prize, love; as
    Salem
    place mentioned in Genesis xiv.18, from Hebrew Shālēm, usually said to be another name for Jerusalem and to mean "peace" (compare Hebrew shalom, Arabic salaam). A typical meetinghouse name among Baptists and Methodists, so much so that by mid-19c. it (along with Bethel and Ebenez
    palate
    late 14c., "roof of the mouth of a human or animal; the parts which separate the oral from the nasal cavity," from Old French palat and directly from Latin palatum "roof of the mouth," also "a vault," which is perhaps of Etruscan origin [Klein], but de Vaan suggests an IE root me
    abeyance
    1520s, "state of expectation," from Anglo-French abeiance "suspension," also "expectation (especially in a lawsuit)," from Old French abeance "aspiration, powerful desire," noun of condition from abeer "aspire after, gape, open wide," from à "at" (see ad-) + ba(y)er "be open," fr
    dilettante
    1733, "an admirer of a fine art, literature, science, etc., one who cultivates an art or literature casually and for amusement," a borrowing of Italian dilettante "lover of music or painting," from dilettare "to delight," from Latin delectare "to allure, delight, charm, please,"

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