respirer

English

Etymology

From respire + -er.

Noun

respirer (plural respirers)

1. An organism that respires.

Anagrams

• Perriers, perriers

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French respirer, from Old French respirer, borrowed from Latin respīrāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɛs.pi.ʁe/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Massy)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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• Homophones: respirai, respiré, respirée, respirées, respirés, respirez

Verb

respirer

1. to breathe

   mentir comme on respire ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 2003, Mickey 3D, Respire:

     Il faut que tu respires
     Et ça c'est rien de le dire
     Tu vas pas mourir de rire
     Et c'est pas rien de le dire

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Conjugation of respirer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	respirer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	respirant /ʁɛs.pi.ʁɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		respiré /ʁɛs.pi.ʁe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	respire /ʁɛs.piʁ/	respires /ʁɛs.piʁ/	respire /ʁɛs.piʁ/	respirons /ʁɛs.pi.ʁɔ̃/	respirez /ʁɛs.pi.ʁe/	respirent /ʁɛs.piʁ/
	imperfect	respirais /ʁɛs.pi.ʁɛ/	respirais /ʁɛs.pi.ʁɛ/	respirait /ʁɛs.pi.ʁɛ/	respirions /ʁɛs.pi.ʁjɔ̃/	respiriez /ʁɛs.pi.ʁje/	respiraient /ʁɛs.pi.ʁɛ/
	past historic2	respirai /ʁɛs.pi.ʁe/	respiras /ʁɛs.pi.ʁa/	respira /ʁɛs.pi.ʁa/	respirâmes /ʁɛs.pi.ʁam/	respirâtes /ʁɛs.pi.ʁat/	respirèrent /ʁɛs.pi.ʁɛʁ/
	future	respirerai /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁe/	respireras /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁa/	respirera /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁa/	respirerons /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/	respirerez /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁe/	respireront /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	respirerais /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁɛ/	respirerais /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁɛ/	respirerait /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁɛ/	respirerions /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/	respireriez /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁje/	respireraient /ʁɛs.pi.ʁə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	respire /ʁɛs.piʁ/	respires /ʁɛs.piʁ/	respire /ʁɛs.piʁ/	respirions /ʁɛs.pi.ʁjɔ̃/	respiriez /ʁɛs.pi.ʁje/	respirent /ʁɛs.piʁ/
	imperfect2	respirasse /ʁɛs.pi.ʁas/	respirasses /ʁɛs.pi.ʁas/	respirât /ʁɛs.pi.ʁa/	respirassions /ʁɛs.pi.ʁa.sjɔ̃/	respirassiez /ʁɛs.pi.ʁa.sje/	respirassent /ʁɛs.pi.ʁas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	respire /ʁɛs.piʁ/	—	respirons /ʁɛs.pi.ʁɔ̃/	respirez /ʁɛs.pi.ʁe/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• respirable
• respiration

Related terms

• expirer
• inspirer
• perspirer
• soupirer
• transpirer

Further reading

• “respirer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• repriser

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [rɛsˈpiː.rɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [resˈpiː.rer]

Verb

respīrer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of respīrō

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French respirer.

Verb

respirer

1. to breathe

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of respirer

infinitive	simple	respirer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	respirant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		respiré
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	respire	respires	respire	respirons	respirez	respirent
	imperfect	respirois, respiroys	respirois, respiroys	respiroit, respiroyt	respirions, respiryons	respiriez, respiryez	respiroient, respiroyent
	past historic	respira	respiras	respira	respirasmes	respirastes	respirerent
	future	respirerai, respireray	respireras	respirera	respirerons	respirerez	respireront
	conditional	respirerois, respireroys	respirerois, respireroys	respireroit, respireroyt	respirerions, respireryons	respireriez, respireryez	respireroient, respireroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	respire	respires	respire	respirons	respirez	respirent
	imperfect	respirasse	respirasses	respirast	respirassions	respirassiez	respirassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	respire	—	respirons	respirez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: respirer

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin respīrāre.

Verb

respirer

1. to respire; to breathe
2. (figuratively) to come back to life
3. (transitive) to revive (someone)

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 respirer (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		respirer			avoir respiré
gerund		en respirant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		respirant
past participle		respiré
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	respir	respires	respire	respirons	respirez	respirent
	imperfect	respiroie, respireie, respiroe, respireve	respiroies, respireies, respiroes, respireves	respiroit, respireit, respirot, respireve	respiriiens, respiriens	respiriiez, respiriez	respiroient, respireient, respiroent, respirevent
	preterite	respirai	respiras	respira	respirames	respirastes	respirerent
	future	respirerai	respireras	respirera	respirerons	respireroiz, respirereiz, respirerez	respireront
	conditional	respireroie, respirereie	respireroies, respirereies	respireroit, respirereit	respireriiens, respireriens	respireriiez, respireriez	respireroient, respirereient
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	respir	respirs	respirt	respirons	respirez	respirent
	imperfect	respirasse	respirasses	respirast	respirissons, respirissiens	respirissoiz, respirissez, respirissiez	respirassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	respire	—	respirons	respirez	—

Descendants

Descendants

• → Middle English: respiren
  • English: respire
• Middle French: respirer
  • French: respirer
• Norman: respither (Jersey)
• → Walloon: respirer

References

• Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “respirer”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.

Romansh

Alternative forms

• respirar (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader)

Etymology

From Latin respīrō, respīrāre.

Verb

respirer

1. (Puter) to breathe

Synonyms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) fladar
• (Rumantsch Grischun) trair flad, trair il flad
• (Sursilvan) trer flad
• (Sutsilvan) trer flo
• (Surmiran) trer igl flo
• (Puter) trer fled, trer il fled
• (Vallader) trar il flà

Walloon

Etymology

From Old French respirer, a borrowing from Latin respīrō, respīrāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʀɛspiʀe/

Verb

respirer

1. to breathe

Conjugation

   —         —   Conjugation of the verb respirer in Walloon   —   Codjowaedje do viebe respirer e walon

infinitive	simple	respirer
	compound	aveur + past participle
gerund1	simple	respirant
	compound	åyant + past participle
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		respiré		respirêye
		plural		respirés		respirêyes
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		dji (dj')	ti (t')	i (il) / ele	dji (dj') / nos2	vos	i (il)
(simple tenses)	present	respire	respires	respire	respirans	respirez	respirèt or respirnut3
	imperfect	respiréve	respiréves	respiréve	respiréns	respirîz	respirént
	preterite	respira	respiras	respira	respirîs	respirîz	respirît
	future	respirrè	respirrès	respirrè	respirrans	respirroz	respirront
	conditional	respirreu	respirreus	respirreut	respirréns	respirrîz	respirrént
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of aveur + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of aveur + past participle
	past anterior	preterite indicative of aveur + past participle
	future perfect	future of aveur + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of aveur + past participle
subjunctive		ki dj'	ki t'	k' i (il) / k' ele	ki dj' / ki nos2	ki vos	k' i (il)
(simple tenses)	present	respire	respires	respire	respiranxhe	respiroxhe	respirèxhe or respirnuxhe3
	imperfect	respiraxhe	respiraxhes	respiraxhe	respirénxhe	respirîxhe	respirénxhe
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of aveur + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of aveur + past participle
imperative		–	ti	–	dji / nos	vos	–
simple		—	respire!	—	respirans!	respirez!	—
compound		—	simple imperative of aveur + past participle	—	simple imperative of aveur + past participle	simple imperative of aveur + past participle	—
1 The Walloon gerund is usable only with the preposition tot (Eastern, Southern) or e (Central, Western).
2 The second person plural dji is used in Central and Southern dialects
3 The form -èt/-exhe is used in Eastern and Southern dialects, the form -nut/-nuxhe is used in Central and Western dialects.