Etymograph

English

spiroscope

Spiroscope comes from Latin spirō ‘to breathe’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspirō1as spirare‘to breathe’
  2. Englishtodayspiroscope1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English spiroscope

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspirōWiktionary, English spiroscopeas spirare‘to breathe’
  2. EnglishtodayspiroscopeWiktionary, English spiroscope

Formed from scope

Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to see, to look, to observe’

…

Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι ‘to look at, examine’

Ancient Greek σκοπός ‘watcher, lookout’

Late Latin scopus

Italian scopo ‘purpose’

English scope

Linked words

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

spiritual, spiritus, 48 more

through Proto-Germanic *fīsaną ‘to blow’

conspire, 4 more

through Latin spirō ‘to breathe’

spirit, conspiracy, respiratory, spree, expire, sprite, aspire, aspiration, esprit, spire, aspirant, 50 more

Today it means

noun A wet meter used to determine the breathing capacity of the lungs.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spiroscope”. 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 spirō / spiroscope

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