late 14c., aspiracioun, "a spirant;" 1530s as "action of breathing into," from Latin aspirationem (nominative aspiratio) "a breathing on, a blowing upon; rough breathing; influence," noun of action from past-participle stem of aspirare "strive for, seek to reach," literally "breathe at, blow upon" (see aspire). The meaning "steadfast longing for a higher goal, earnest desire for something above one" is recorded from c. 1600 (sometimes collectively, as aspirations).
late 14c., "action of aspirating, a spirant letter or sound," noun of action from aspirate (v.).
"characterized by steadfast desire for a higher position," 1860, from aspiration (n.1) + -al (1). Earlier adjectives were aspirant "aspiring, ambitious" (1814); aspiring "animated by ardent desire" (1570s).
"to pronounce with audible breath," 1660s (implied in aspirated); perhaps a back-formation from aspiration (n.2), or from French aspirer or directly from Latin aspiratus, past participle of aspirare "breathe at, blow upon" (see aspire). Related: Aspirating.
"tragic flaw," Greek, literally "fault, failure, guilt, sin" from hamartanein "to fail of one's purpose; to err, sin," originally "to miss the mark," from PIE *hemert- "to miss, fail." "The aspiration must be analogical. The word has no known cognates, but the reconstructed root looks perfectly IE" [Robert Beekes, "Etymological Dictionary of Greek"].
late 14c., entencioun, "purpose, design, aim or object; will, wish, desire, that which is intended," from Old French entencion "intent, purpose, aspiration; will; thought" (12c.), from Latin intentionem (nominative intentio) "a stretching out, straining, exertion, effort; attention," noun of action from intendere "to turn one's attention," literally "to stretch out" (see intend). Also in Middle English "emotion, feelings; heart, mind, mental faculties, understanding."
1820, "temper" (usually in a hostile sense), from Latin animus "rational soul, mind, life, mental powers, consciousness, sensibility; courage, desire," related to anima "living being, soul, mind, disposition, passion, courage, anger, spirit, feeling," from PIE root *ane- "to breathe."
It has no plural. As a term in Jungian psychology for the masculine component of a feminine personality, it dates from 1923 (compare anima). For sense development in Latin, compare Old Norse andi "breath, breathing; current of air; aspiration in speech;" also "soul, spirit, spiritual being."
1520s, "state of expectation," from Anglo-French abeiance "suspension," also "expectation (especially in a lawsuit)," from Old French abeance "aspiration, powerful desire," noun of condition from abeer "aspire after, gape, open wide," from à "at" (see ad-) + ba(y)er "be open," from Latin *batare "to yawn, gape" (see abash).
Originally in French a legal term, "condition of a person in expectation or hope of receiving property;" it turned around in English law to mean "condition of property temporarily without an owner" (1650s). Hence "state of suspended action or existence." The French verb baer is also the source of English bay (n.2) "recessed space," as in bay window.
before a vowel, anthrop-, word-forming element meaning "pertaining to man or human beings," from Greek anthrōpos "man; human being" (including women), as opposed to the gods, from andra (genitive andros), Attic form of Greek anēr "man" (as opposed to a woman, a god, or a boy), from PIE root *ner- (2) "man," also "vigorous, vital, strong."
Anthropos sometimes is explained as a compound of anēr and ōps (genitive ōpos) "eye, face;" so literally "he who has the face of a man." The change of -d- to -th- is difficult to explain; perhaps it is from some lost dialectal variant, or the mistaken belief that there was an aspiration sign over the vowel in the second element (as though *-dhropo-), which mistake might have come about by influence of common verbs such as horao "to see." But Beekes writes, "As no IE explanation has been found, the word is probably of substrate origin."
