espirer

Old French

Alternative forms

• anspirer, enspirer, inspirer

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin spīrāre, present active infinitive of spīrō. Compare Spanish espirar, cf. also Italian ispirare. The form enspirer was influenced by Latin inspīrāre.

Verb

espirer

1. to breathe in
2. (figuratively or of God) to breathe life into
3. (figuratively, by extension) to inspire; to bring about creativity or motivation

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of espirer (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		espirer			avoir espiré
gerund		en espirant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		espirant
past participle		espiré
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	espir	espires	espire	espirons	espirez	espirent
	imperfect	espiroie, espireie, espiroe, espireve	espiroies, espireies, espiroes, espireves	espiroit, espireit, espirot, espireve	espiriiens, espiriens	espiriiez, espiriez	espiroient, espireient, espiroent, espirevent
	preterite	espirai	espiras	espira	espirames	espirastes	espirerent
	future	espirerai	espireras	espirera	espirerons	espireroiz, espirereiz, espirerez	espireront
	conditional	espireroie, espirereie	espireroies, espirereies	espireroit, espirereit	espireriiens, espireriens	espireriiez, espireriez	espireroient, espirereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	espir	espirs	espirt	espirons	espirez	espirent
	imperfect	espirasse	espirasses	espirast	espirissons, espirissiens	espirissoiz, espirissez, espirissiez	espirassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	espire	—	espirons	espirez	—

Descendants

• French: inspirer
• → Middle English: enspiren, ensperen
  • English: inspire
  • Scots: enspire

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (espirer)
• espirer on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub