English
spirant
Spirant comes from Latin spirans ‘breathing’, and goes back to spīrō ‘to blow’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrō1‘to blow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspirans1‘breathing’present participle of spīrō
- Englishearliest quotation 1888spirant1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English spirant
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1888, Joseph Wright: “Spirant consonants are those in which the mouth passage…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrōWiktionary, English spirant‘to blow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspiransWiktionary, English spirant‘breathing’present participle of spīrō
- Englishearliest quotation 1888spirantWiktionary, English spirant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1888, Joseph Wright: “Spirant consonants are those in which the mouth passage…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- ‘to blow’
through Proto-Germanic *fīsaną ‘to blow’
through Latin spīrō ‘to blow’
spirit, conspiracy, spree, respiratory, expire, sprite, aspire, aspiration, esprit, spire, 51 more
Today it means
noun A non-sibilant fricative.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “spirant”. 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 / spirant