Dictionary

transpire en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /tɹænˈspaɪ̯ɚ/ (US)
• /tɹænˈspaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French transpirer, from Medieval Latin transpirare (“to breathe through”), from Latin trans (“across”) spirare (“to breathe”). The sense “to become known” is also present in French, while the sense “to happen” is not; the latter probably developed in English from the former.

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive) To give off (vapour, waste matter etc.); to exhale (an odour etc.).
2. (intransitive, obsolete) To perspire.
3. (intransitive) Of plants, to give off water and waste products through the stomata.
4. (intransitive) To become known; to escape from secrecy.
   • The story of Paulina's and Maximilian's mutual attachment had transpired through many of the travellers. 1832, Thomas De Quincey, Klosterheim Or, the Masque:
   • Hubert then recommends M. Leproux to be punctual to meet him at the rendezvous agreed on between them, where a third individual, whose name did not transpire, was to join them. 1839, Edmund Burke, The Annual Register of World Events:
   • It eventually transpired that the murder victim had been a notorious blackmailer.
5. (broadly, intransitive) To happen, take place.
   • Although I was prevented from attending the 1952 annual conference, I was immediately informed as to what had transpired. 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 166:
   • But there is a school of thought that holds that the more you talk about recession, the more likely it is to transpire. 2018 September 21, Mark Rice-Oxley, “Don't mention the R-word”, in The Guardian:

Forms

Deriveds

transpirable · transpirometer · untranspired · transpiration

Synonyms

beworth · occur · occur · emerge · crop up · come to light · sweat · betide · hold · pass · come to pass · befall · develop · come about · come to pass · behap · chance · transpire · bechance · come about · belimp · go on · betime · evene · hap · tide · eventuate · take place · happen

Translations (33)

cmn 洩露 /泄露 (to become known) · cmn 散發 /散发 (to give off) · hu kibocsát (to give off) · gl transpirar (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata) · fi huokua (to give off) · pl transpirować (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata) · hu kiderül (to become known) · hu kipárologtat (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata) · fi tulla ilmi (to become known) · vi thoát hơi nước (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata) · mi tukuwai (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata) · hu kitudódik (to become known) · pl transpirować (to give off) · fr transpirer (to give off) · cmn 蒸騰 /蒸腾 (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata) · fi paljastua (to become known) · ja 発散する (to give off) · fi erittää (to give off) · ja 明らかになる (to become known) · ca transpirar (to give off) · hu áraszt (to give off) · pl okazywać się (to become known) · fi tulla tietoon (to become known) · fr transpirer (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata) · el μαθεύομαι (to become known) · pl okazać się (to become known) · fr transpirer (to become known) · ca transpirar (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata) · hu kiad (to give off) · fi käydä ilmi (to become known) · ca transpirar (to become known) · hu kigőzölögtet (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata) · fi haihduttaa (botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata)