Etymograph

English

spiritus

Spiritus comes from Latin spīritus ‘air, breath, breathing’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)peys-1‘to breathe’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrō1‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīritus1‘air, breath, breathing’
  4. Englishtodayspiritus1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English spiritus

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)peys-Wiktionary, English spiritus‘to breathe’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrōWiktionary, English spiritus‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīritusWiktionary, English spiritus‘air, breath, breathing’
  4. EnglishtodayspiritusWiktionary, English spiritus

Linked words

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

conspire, 51 more

through Latin spīrō ‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’

conspiracy, respiratory, expire, aspire, aspiration, spire, aspirant, 51 more

through Latin spīritus ‘air, breath, breathing’

spree, sprite, esprit, 39 more

Today it means

noun A breathing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spiritus”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- / spiritus

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