Etymograph

English

aspire

Aspire comes from Latin aspīrō ‘breathe on’, and goes back to spīrō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrō1‘breathe’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaspīrō2‘breathe on’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400aspirer2
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aspiren2
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588aspire2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin aspiro
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English aspire
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Thus ſhall my heart be ſtil combinde with thine,…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrōWiktionary, Latin aspiro‘breathe’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaspīrōWiktionary, English aspire‘breathe on’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400aspirerWiktionary, English aspire
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aspirenWiktionary, English aspire
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588aspireWiktionary, English aspire. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Thus ſhall my heart be ſtil combinde with thine,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- ‘to breathe’

spiritual, spiritus, 52 more

through Latin spīrō ‘breathe’

spirit, conspiracy, respiratory, spree, sprite, expire, esprit, conspire, 53 more

Today it means

verb To have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “aspire”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin aspiro. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin spīrō / aspire

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