Wordwyrt

expire

/ɪksˈpaɪə/ik-SPYR
/ɪksˈpaɪɹ/ik-SPYR

Meaningbreathe out

Common meaning: come to an end or die

‘out’ + ‘to breathe’ → expire

Journey through time

  • ex — Latin ex- “out” (path traced)
  • pire — Latin spīrō, spīrāvī “to breathe” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as expirare.

  1. Latinex- + spirare‘out + to breathe’source
  2. Latinexpirare‘breathe out’source
  3. Old Frenchexpirer‘to expire’source
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsbreathe out → come to an end or dieexpire‘come to an end or die’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin expirare, which Skeat (Concise Dictionary, 1911) analyses as ex- ‘out’ + spirare ‘to breathe’.

Roots

Related words

aspireconspireinspireleptospirosisperspirationrespirespirit

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app