Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
suspire en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /səˈspaɪə(ɹ)/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Late Middle English, from Latin suspīrāre. Cognate with Old French sospirer (modern soupirer) and Spanish suspirar.
Meanings
-
(obsolete) A long, deep breath; a sigh.
Forms
suspire en · VERB
Pronunciation
- /səˈspaɪə(ɹ)/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Late Middle English, from Latin suspīrāre. Cognate with Old French sospirer (modern soupirer) and Spanish suspirar.
Meanings
-
(archaic, literary) To breathe, especially to exhale
To him that yesterday did suspire.
c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:Fireflies that suspire / In short, soft lapses of transported flame.
1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Seventh Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
-
(literary) To sigh.
Now the New Year reviving old Desires,
The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires,
Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough
Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires.
1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 2:
Forms
Relateds
suspirious · suspiral · suspiration
Synonyms
breathe (to breathe)