aspirate

English

WOTD – 4 November 2010

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aspīrātus, perfect passive participle of aspīrō (“breathe upon”). Doublet of aspire.

Pronunciation

• noun and adjective
  • (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈæs.pəɹ.ət/, /ˈæs.pɪ.ɹət/, /ˈæs.pə.ɹɪt/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• verb
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæs.pəɹ.eɪt/, /ˈæs.pɪ.ɹeɪt/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæs.pə.ɹeɪt/, /ˈæs.pɪ.ɹeɪt/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

  • Rhymes: -æspəɹeɪt
• (UK) Hyphenation: as‧pir‧ate
• (US) Hyphenation: as‧pi‧rate

Noun

aspirate (plural aspirates)

1. (linguistics) The puff of air accompanying the release of a plosive consonant.
2. (linguistics) A sound produced by such a puff of air.
   • 1972, Leonard R. Palmer, Descriptive and Comparative Linguistics, page 50

     We now come to the so-called aspirate [h], which must be also classified as a fricative consonant.

3. A mark of aspiration (#) used in Greek; the asper, or rough breathing.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bentley to this entry?)

Translations

linguistics: puff of air

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 送氣／送气 (zh) (sòngqì), 送气 (zh) (sòngqì)

• Dutch: aspiratie (nl) f
• Finnish: aspiraatio (fi), henkäisy
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: aspiration (fr) f
• German: Aspiration (de) f, Behauchung (de) f
• Interlingue:
• Russian: придыха́ние (ru) n (pridyxánije), аспира́ция (ru) f (aspirácija)
• Slovak: aspirácia
• Spanish: aspiración (es)

linguistics: sound produced

• Bengali: মহাপ্রাণ বর্ণ (mohapran borno)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 送氣音／送气音 (zh) (sòngqìyīn), 送气音 (zh) (sòngqìyīn)

• Finnish: aspiraatta
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 有気音 (ja) (ゆうきおん, yūkion), 帯気音 (たいきおん, taikion)
• Russian: придыха́тельный согла́сный m (pridyxátelʹnyj soglásnyj), придыха́тельный звук m (pridyxátelʹnyj zvuk)
• Slovak: aspirácia
• Spanish: aspirada (es)

Verb

1. (transitive) To remove a liquid or gas by means of suction.
   • 2003, Miep H. Helfrich et al. (eds.), Bone Research Protocols, page 430

     Scrape cells using a cell scraper and aspirate the resulting slurry into a 2.0-mL Eppendorf tube.

2. (transitive) To inhale so as to draw something other than air into one's lungs.
3. (transitive, intransitive, linguistics) To produce an audible puff of breath. especially following a consonant.
   • 1887, James Frederick Hodgetts, Greater England, page 33

     There is no doubt that the uncertainty about the letter H, which much defaces English in some classes of the community, is due entirely to Norman influence, for Frenchmen could not aspirate. Three words—hour, honor, heir, with compounds of them such as hourly, honourable, heirship, and the like, are quite enough to puzzle people who find H sometimes sounded, sometimes not.

Synonyms

• (inhale): breathe in, inhale, inspire

Translations

to remove a liquid or gas by suction

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 抽空 (zh) (chōukòng)

• Finnish: imeä (fi), imaista, aspiroida
• French: aspirer (fr), pomper (fr)
• Interlingue:
• Irish: asúigh
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: pompare (it), aspirare (it)
• Portuguese: aspirar (pt)
• Russian: аспири́ровать (ru) (aspirírovatʹ), отса́сывать (ru) (otsásyvatʹ)
• Slovak: vysať, vysávať
• Spanish: aspirar (es), chupar (es)

to draw into one's lungs

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 吸入 (zh) (xīrù)

• Czech: vdechnout
• Finnish: vetää henkeen, aspiroida
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: inspirer (fr), inhaler (fr)
• Portuguese: aspirar (pt), inalar (pt)
• Slovak: vdýchnuť
• Spanish: inhalar (es), aspirar (es)

linguistics: to produce an audible puff of breath

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 送气 (zh) (sòngqì)

• Finnish: henkäistä, aspiroida
• Irish: análaigh
• Norwegian: aspirere (no)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: aspirar (pt)
• Russian: произноси́ть с придыханием (proiznosítʹ s pridyxanijem)
• Slovak: aspirovať
• Spanish: aspirar (es)
• Vietnamese: bật hơi

Adjective

aspirate (comparative more aspirate, superlative most aspirate)

1. aspirated

Translations

aspirated — see aspirated

Related terms

• aspire
• aspiration
• aspirational
• aspirator
• nonaspirate
• unaspirate

Anagrams

• parasite, pastiera, septaria

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Italian

Verb

aspirate

1. second-person plural present indicative of aspirare
2. second-person plural imperative of aspirare
3. feminine plural of aspirato

Anagrams

• apertasi, asperità, espatria, espirata, pastiera, raspiate, ripesata, satrapie, separati, spariate, sterpaia

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Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) aspīrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of aspīrō