breath

Contents

EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

• breth (obsolete)

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-Germanic *brēþiz (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrē-t- (“exhalation from heat; steam”), from *bʰer- (“to seethe, toss about, cook”). Cognate with Scots breth, breith (“breath”), German Brodem (“steam, vapour, fume, odour”). Related also to Icelandic bráður (“hasty, hurried, excited, rash”). More at brath.

PronunciationEdit

• enPR: brĕth, IPA^(key): /bɹɛθ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛθ

NounEdit

breath (countable and uncountable, plural breaths)

1. (uncountable) The act or process of breathing.

   I could hear the breath of the runner behind me.

   The child's breath came quickly and unevenly.

   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter V, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:

     Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

2. (countable) A single act of breathing in or out.

   I took a deep breath and started the test.

   • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:

     Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. […] She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.

   • 2012 June 25, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time^[1]:

     She knew from avalanche safety courses that outstretched hands might puncture the ice surface and alert rescuers. She knew that if victims ended up buried under the snow, cupped hands in front of the face could provide a small pocket of air for the mouth and nose. Without it, the first breaths could create a suffocating ice mask.

3. (uncountable) Air expelled from the lungs.

   I could feel the runner's breath on my shoulder.

4. (countable) A rest or pause.

   Let's stop for a breath when we get to the top of the hill.

5. A small amount of something, such as wind, or common sense.

   Even with all the windows open, there is hardly a breath of air in here.

   If she had a breath of common sense, she would never have spoken to the man in the first place.

6. (obsolete) Fragrance; exhalation; odor; perfume.

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

   • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

     the breath of flowers

7. (obsolete) Gentle exercise, causing a quicker respiration.
   • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)

     an after dinner's breath

Derived termsEdit

Terms derived from breath

• bad breath
• breather
• breathless
• breath of fresh air
• breathtaking

• breathy
• draw breath
• draw one's last breath
• fresh breath
• get one's breath back

• hold one's breath
• out of breath
• take one's breath away
• under one's breath
• waste breath

Related termsEdit

Related terms

• breathe

• breather

TranslationsEdit

act or process of breathing

• Albanian: frymëmarrje (sq)
• Arabic: نَفَس‎ (ar) m (nafas)
• Armenian: շնչառություն (hy) (šnčʿaṙutʿyun)
• Baluchi: ساہ‎ (sáh), نپس‎ (napas)
• Bulgarian: дишане (bg) n (dišane)
• Catalan: respiració f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 呼吸 (zh) (hūxī), 氣息 (zh), 气息 (zh) (qìxī)

• Czech: dech (cs) m
• Dutch: ademhaling (nl) f
• Finnish: hengitys (fi)
• French: respiration (fr) f
• Galician: alento m, respiración (gl) f
• German: Atmen n, Atmung (de) f
• Greek: αναπνοή (el) f (anapnoí)
• Hungarian: lélegzet (hu)
• Indonesian: napas (id)
• Irish: anáil f
• Italian: respiro (it) m, lena (it) f
• Japanese: 呼吸 (ja) (こきゅう, kokyū)
• Korean: 숨 (ko) (sum), 호흡 (ko) (hoheup) (呼吸 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: هه‌ناسه‌‎ (ku)

• Kyrgyz: дем алуу (ky) (dem aluu), дем тартуу (ky) (dem tartuu), дем (ky) (dem), ичке дем тартуу (içke dem tartuu), өмүр (ky) (ömür), тиричилик (ky) (tiriçilik), болмуш (ky) (bolmuş), жашоо (ky) (caşoo), турмуш (ky) (turmuş), желдөө (ky) (celdöö), рух (ky) (ruh)
• Latgalian: dvašuot
• Latin: spiritus m
• Latvian: elpošana f, dvašošana f
• Luxembourgish: Ootmung f
• Manx: ennal f
• Maori: manawa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pust m

  Nynorsk: pust m

• Old English: æþm, oroþ n
• Persian: نفس‎ (fa) (nafas), دم‎ (fa) (dam)
• Polish: oddech (pl) m
• Portuguese: respiração (pt)
• Quechua: samay
• Romanian: respirație (ro)
• Russian: дыха́ние (ru) n (dyxánije), вздох (ru) m (vzdox)
• Slovak: dýchanie n
• Spanish: respiración (es) f
• Swedish: andning (sv) c
• Turkish: nefes (tr)
• Vietnamese: hô hấp (vi) (呼吸)
• Welsh: anadl (cy) m, f

single act of breathing in and out

• Albanian: frymë (sq)
• Armenian: շունչ (hy) (šunčʿ)
• Breton: anal (br)
• Bulgarian: вдишване (bg) n (vdišvane), издишване n (izdišvane)
• Catalan: alè (ca) m
• Czech: dech (cs), nádech
• Dutch: adem (nl) m, asem (nl) m
• Finnish: hengitys (fi), henkäys
• French: souffle (fr) m, respiration (fr) f
• German: Atemzug (de) m
• Greek: αναπνοή (el) f (anapnoí)
• Indonesian: napas (id)
• Italian: respiro (it) m
• Japanese: 呼吸 (ja) (こきゅう, kokyū), 息 (ja) (いき, iki)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: هه‌ناسه‌‎

• Macedonian: здив m (zdiv)
• Manx: ennal f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: åndedrag n, andedrag n

  Nynorsk: andedrag n

• Old English: oroþ n
• Persian: دم‎ (fa) (dam)
• Portuguese: respiração (pt) f, respiro (pt) m
• Quechua: sama
• Romanian: suflu (ro) m
• Russian: вздох (ru) m (vzdox)
• Spanish: respiración (es), aliento (es) m
• Swedish: andetag (sv) n
• Turkish: nefes (tr)
• Welsh: anadl (cy) m, f, chwyth (cy) m

air expelled from the lungs

• Albanian: frymë (sq)
• Armenian: շունչ (hy) (šunčʿ)
• Bulgarian: дъх (bg) m (dǎh), дихание (bg) n (dihanie)
• Catalan: alè (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 呼吸 (zh) (hūxī)

• Dutch: adem (nl) m, asem (nl) m
• Finnish: hengitys (fi), uloshengitys (fi)
• French: haleine (fr) f, souffle (fr) m
• Gallurese: alènu
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Atem (de) m
• Greek: ανάσα (el) f (anása)
• Indonesian: napas (id)
• Italian: alito (it) m, fiato (it) m
• Japanese: 息 (ja) (いき, iki)
• Kazakh: дем (kk) (dem)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: هه‌ناسه‌‎

• Latvian: dvaša (lv) f, elpa f

• Luxembourgish: Otem m
• Manx: ennal f
• Old English: æþm m, oroþ n
• Persian: بازدم‎ (fa) (bāzdam)
• Portuguese: hálito (pt), bafo (pt) m
• Romanian: suflu (ro) m, halenă (ro) f, alenă (ro) f
• Russian: дыха́ние (ru) n (dyxánije), вздох (ru) m (vzdox)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese: álidu

  Logudorese: alènu

  Sassarese: arenu

• Slovak: výdych m
• Spanish: aliento (es) m
• Swedish: utandning (sv) c
• Turkish: nefes (tr)
• Vilamovian: ödum m
• Walloon: alinne (wa) f, shofla (wa) m
• Welsh: anadl (cy) m, f
• Yiddish: אָטעם‎ m (otem)

rest or pause

• Albanian: frymë (sq)
• Bulgarian: отдих (bg) m (otdih)
• Catalan: alè (ca) m
• Dutch: adempauze (nl) f, pauze (nl) f
• Finnish: hengähdystauko (fi), tauko (fi)
• German: Atempause (de) f
• Greek: ανάσα (el) f (anása)

• Persian: دم‎ (fa) (dam)
• Portuguese: respiro (pt) m, folga (pt) f
• Quechua: sama
• Russian: переды́шка (ru) f (peredýška), о́тдых (ru) m (ótdyx)
• Slovak: oddych m
• Spanish: respiro (es) m
• Swedish: andhämtning c

small amount

• Finnish: henkäys

• Portuguese: pingo (pt) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Breton: ^{(please verify)} anal f
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ^{(please verify)} unfus m (unfus)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} spiro, ^{(please verify)} spirado
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} נשימה‎ f (neshima) (1,2), ^{(please verify)} נשיפה‎ f (neshifa) (3)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} andi m, ^{(please verify)} andardráttur m
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} nafas
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} halito, ^{(please verify)} respiration
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 숨 (sum), ^{(please verify)} 호흡 (呼吸, hoheup)

• Ladino: ^{(please verify)} aliento, ^{(please verify)} respirasion
• Marathi: ^{(please verify)} श्वास ? (šwās)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} răsuflare
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} dah m
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} శ్వాస (śvāsa), ^{(please verify)} ఊపిరి (ūpiri)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} soluk, ^{(please verify)} nefes n
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} natem

See alsoEdit

• exhalation
• inhalation
• respiration

StatisticsEdit

Most common English words before 1923 in Project Gutenberg: sorry · share · working · #988: breath · camp · prove · engaged

AnagramsEdit

• Bertha, bather, bertha

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IrishEdit

Noun 1Edit

breath f (genitive singular breithe, nominative plural breitheanna)

1. Alternative form of breith (“birth; lay; bearing capacity; bringing, taking; seizing; catching, overtaking”)

Noun 2Edit

breath f (genitive singular breithe, nominative plural breitheanna)

1. Alternative form of breith (“judgment, decision; injunction”)

DeclensionEdit

Declension of breath

Second declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative breath breitheanna Vocative a bhreath a bhreitheanna Genitive breithe breitheanna Dative breath breitheanna

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an bhreath na breitheanna Genitive na breithe na mbreitheanna Dative leis an mbreath don bhreath leis na breitheanna

MutationEdit

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
breath	bhreath	mbreath
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

ReferencesEdit

• "breath" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.