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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Inspirational subject #65437 04/14/02 02:58 AM Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 1,289 B Bobyoungbalt OP veteran OP Bobyoungbalt veteran B Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 1,289 A friend of mine is greatly into breathing exercises and regimens. I was telling her about this site and she asked me to ask you to share what you know, or can find, on the word 'inspiration', in all senses. So perhaps one of you with the OED can begin and you others who are fond of arcane references can jump in and I'll pass along what you all post. Of course, I know, and told her, that it comes from spiritus and geve her what I know about that, but it doesn't really amount to much. I imagine we also need to know about the significations of the Latin. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Inspirational subject #65438 04/14/02 03:19 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,819 Spam Factory A Alex Williams Pooh-Bah Alex Williams Pooh-Bah A Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,819 Spam Factory I hope you find my 200th post inspirational, although it is really just a cut and paste job... from http://humanityquest.com/Themes/Inspiration/ArticleGuidelines/: In reply to: The word inspiration comes to English from the French word, inspire, whose origin has been traced back to the Latin words in and spirare (breathe), or in other words, to breathe into. The Latin root word spirare forms the base of other English words, such as; aspire (rough or audible breathing), conspire (breathe together), expire (breathe out), perspire (breathe through), transpire (breathe across) and spirit (breath of life). Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Inspirational subject #65439 04/14/02 03:26 PM Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... W Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Wordwind Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... Very nice paste, Alex! And what about spire itself? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Inspirational subject #65440 04/14/02 04:23 PM Joined: Dec 2001 Posts: 688 A Angel addict Angel addict A Joined: Dec 2001 Posts: 688 Alex, I am inspired to congratulate you, very enthusiastically! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Inspirational subject #65441 04/14/02 06:48 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,819 Spam Factory A Alex Williams Pooh-Bah Alex Williams Pooh-Bah A Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,819 Spam Factory Thank you Wordwind and Angel! While it seems as though the spire of a church represents the aspirations of humankind to be with God, a brief search at Merriam-Webster's webpage suggests that the word is related to an archaic word for a blade of grass. Presumably the tall, narrow shape of the spire on a church suggested a blade of grass to whoever coined the name. From http://www.m-w.com/home.htm Main Entry: spire Pronunciation: 'spIr Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English spIr; akin to Middle Dutch spier blade of grass Date: before 12th century 1 : a slender tapering blade or stalk (as of grass) 2 : the upper tapering part of something (as a tree or antler) : PINNACLE 3 a : a tapering roof or analogous pyramidal construction surmounting a tower b : STEEPLE I really love these etymological discussions. Maybe I should get myself an OED. They are a bit pricey though, aren't they? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary Forum Statistics Forums16 Topics13,913 Posts229,318 Members9,182 Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011 Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV 9,182 Registered Users Who's Online Now 0 members (), 719 guests, and 2 robots. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters(30 Days) wofahulicodoc 32 A C Bowden 13 LukeJavan8 1 ddrinnan 1 Top Posters wwh 13,858 Faldage 13,803 Jackie 11,613 tsuwm 10,542 wofahulicodoc 10,535 LukeJavan8 9,916 Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210 AnnaStrophic 6,511 Wordwind 6,296 of troy 5,400

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