Where does “perspire” come from?
Perspire comes from Old French perspirer, from Latin perspirare meaning to breathe through, composed of Latin per meaning through and Proto-Indo-European (s)peys- meaning to spit or spurt.
perspire (English): To emit through the skin's pores; To be...
Definitions
- To emit through the skin's pores; To be...
Ancestry of “perspire”, step by step
perspire traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin perspīrō
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | perspīrō | to breathe everywhere |
| 2 | Latin | per | through, by means of; throughout, during |
| 3 | Latin | Ad | toward, to |
| 4 | Latin | illic | he, she, it, yonder, that, overthere; in that... |
| 5 | Latin | ille | that; those; "; demonstrative pronoun "; that... |
| 6 | Latin | olle | Archaic form of ille |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *olnos | that |
via Middle French perspirer
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | perspirer | — |