spir

breathe

Spelled spir · spirare 'breathe'; spiritus 'breath, spirit'

Latin spirare means to breathe: inspire once meant breathing into, conspire meant breathing together, and spirit began as breath.

Words built from it

spirit — a person's inner character, courage, or energy
spir (spirit)
aspire — hope and strive to achieve something
a- (toward; form of ad-) + spir (breathe)
conspire — secretly plan with others to do something wrong
con- (together) + spir (breathe)
inspire — fill someone with an urge or ability to do something
in- (into) + spir (breathe)
expire — come to an end or cease to be valid
ex- (out) + spir (breathe)
transpire — become known; also, happen
trans- (through) + spir (breathe)
dispirited — having lost hope, enthusiasm, or courage
dis- (remove) + spir (spirit) + -ed (having undergone)
respiration — the process of breathing
re- (back) + spir (breathe) + -ation (action or process)

spiral — It comes from Latin spira, 'coil,' borrowed from Greek speira, rather than spirare, 'breathe.'