suspire meaning (archaic): definition, etymology and quotations

suspire

verb

/səˈspaɪə(ɹ)/

Etymology Late Middle English, from Latin suspīrāre. Cognate with Old French sospirer (modern soupirer) and Spanish suspirar.

Archaic, Literary To breathe, especially to exhale

Fireflies that suspire / In short, soft lapses of transported flame.1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Seventh Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
To him that yesterday did suspire.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

Literary To sigh.

Now the New Year reviving old Desires, The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires, Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires.1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 2:

noun

Etymology Late Middle English, from Latin suspīrāre. Cognate with Old French sospirer (modern soupirer) and Spanish suspirar.

Obsolete A long, deep breath; a sigh.