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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

  1. (obsolete) A long, deep breath; a sigh.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
suspires Number=Plur lexicographic

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

  1. (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:
  2. (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

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
suspired Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
suspired Tense=Past lexicographic
suspiring Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
suspires Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Relateds

suspirious · suspiral · suspiration

Synonyms

breathe (to breathe)