Talk:aspiration

Does anyone have any idea why this word can mean both inhalation, the removal of gas or fluid from the body, but also goal or desire?

Zen0dotus 00:45, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps someone, not me. The Latin verb aspiro had both meanings 2,000 years ago. It came from ad (“to”) + spiro (“to breathe", but also "to be full of; to show, express, manifest; to design, intend a thing"”). The extended sense is much like the English transitive sense of breathe, as in "the place just breathes hope". This doesn't quite convince me, but it does make me humble about understanding other languages. DCDuring TALK 20:00, 25 September 2010 (UTC)