Meanings
plural spiritus aspers
- communicationsSynonym of rough breathing.
h, as an aspirate, is very frequent in Chinese ; it is generally a stronger aspirate than in English : in the dialects of the south it is often changed into f, in the north into s, or sh. To mark an aspirate after a consonant, we use the Greek spiritus asper in preference to h.
1836 May, “System of Orthography for Chinese words”, in The Chinese Repository, volume V, number I, page 27Synonyms: rough breathing
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of rough breathing.
Origin
- Ancient Greekδασὺ πνεῦμα
- Latinspīritus asper
- Englishspiritus asper
Unadapted borrowing from Latin spīritus asper, from Ancient Greek δασὺ πνεῦμα (dasù pneûma).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
spiritus asper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spiritus%20asper
“spiritus asper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spiritus%20asper. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spiritus asper,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spiritus%20asper.
Source: spiritus asper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.