respire

See also: respiré

English

Etymology

From Middle English respiren, borrowed from Old French respirer or Latin respīrō (“to blow back, breathe out”), from re- (“back”) +‎ spīrō (“to breathe, blow”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈspʌɪə/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈspaɪɹ/
Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)

Verb

respire (third-person singular simple present respires, present participle respiring, simple past and past participle respired)

(intransitive) To breathe in and out successively.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:breathe
1. (intransitive) To recover one's breath or breathe easily following stress.
  - 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 10–11:
    The breath of heav'n fresh-blowing, pure and sweet, / With day-spring born; here leave me to respire.
  - 1888, Edmund Shaftesbury, Lessons in Artistic Deep Breathing for Strengthening the Voice‎, page 23:
    Second Day.—Hold the breath five seconds. Respire, and hold the breath ten seconds. Respire, and hold the breath fifteen seconds.
(cytology, intransitive) To take up oxygen and produce carbon dioxide through oxidation.
- 1964, H. Webb, M. A. Grigg, Modern Science‎, Book 3, page 155:
  All living things respire or breathe. To many of us this means that they take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide.
(transitive) To (inhale and) exhale; to breathe.
- 1799, M. Lesser, Insecto-Theology: Or, a Demonstration of the Being and Perfections of God, from a Consideration of the Structure and Economy of Insects‎, page 327:
  It is my opinion, that these animals, while they continue in the state of larvae, respire water and not air; and that they inspire the water, not by the mask, but by their posterior part, through which also they discharge it.
- 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XI, in Duty and Inclination: , volume III, London: Henry Colburn, , →OCLC, page 139:
  They were the last moments he might ever respire near her, who was then doubtless wrapt in peaceful sleep, whilst he wandered distracted without.
(archaic, intransitive) To recover hope, courage, or strength after a time of difficulty.

to take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide and produce energy in the process

Maori: tukupūngao

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

respire

(obsolete) Rest, respite.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 162:
  He cast to suffer him no more respire,
  But gan his sturdie sterne about to weld,
  And him so strongly stroke, that to the ground him feld.

References

“respire”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
“respire”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.