re·spire  (r ĭ-sp īr )
Share:
v. re·spired, re·spir·ing, re·spires v.intr.1. To breathe in and out; inhale and exhale: respired with difficulty. 2. To carry out the metabolic process of respiration: Different parts of a plant respire at different rates. 3. Archaic To regain one's spirits, as after a period of exertion or trouble. v.tr.1. To inhale and exhale (air, for example); breathe. 2. To use (a molecule or compound) for the metabolic process of respiration: bacteria that respire sulfur compounds. 3. To keep (a person or animal) breathing by artificial means: "Becky was still being respired by the ventilator" (Robin Cook).
[Middle English respiren, to breathe again, from Latin respīrāre : re-, re- + spīrāre, to breathe.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
This website is best viewed in Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. Some characters in pronunciations and etymologies cannot be displayed properly in Internet Explorer.