Etymology

aspire

as·pire
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Today it means: To have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something. Full definition →

Middle English aspiren ← Old French aspirer ← Latin aspīrō
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromaspīrō“breathe on; approach; desire”
  2. Old French · derived fromaspirer
  3. Middle English · inherited fromaspiren
  4. English todayaspire

From Middle English aspiren, from Old French aspirer, from Latin aspīrō (“breathe on; approach; desire”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.