aspirate
UK/ˈæs.pəɹ.ət//ˈæs.pə.ɹeɪt/
aspirate noun: the puff of air accompanying the release of a plosive or fricative consonant.
Noun
aspirate (plural aspirates)
- The puff of air accompanying the release of a plosive or fricative consonant.
- A sound produced by such a puff of air.
- We now come to the so-called aspirate [h], which must be also classified as a fricative consonant.1972, Leonard R. Palmer, Descriptive and Comparative Linguistics, page 50
- A mark of aspiration (ʽ) used in Greek; the asper, or rough breathing.
- a. 1742, Richard Bentley, letter to Dr. Mead
But we must correct then twenty authors who have it in the compound ἀπηθεῖν and ἀπήθημα ; and not (as the aspirate would require it) ἀφηθεῖν and αφήθημα
- a. 1742, Richard Bentley, letter to Dr. Mead
- A sample of fluid, tissue, or other substance that is withdrawn via aspiration (usually through a hollow needle) from a body cavity, cyst, or tumor.
Verb
aspirate (third-person singular simple present aspirates, present participle aspirating, simple past and past participle aspirated)
- To remove a liquid or gas by means of suction.
- Scrape cells using a cell scraper and aspirate the resulting slurry into a 2.0-mL Eppendorf tube.2003, Miep H. Helfrich et al., editors, Bone Research Protocols, page 430
- To inhale something other than air into one's lungs.
- Synonyms:
- breathe in, inhale, inspire
- To suffocate, having inhaled something other than air.
- The autopsy found that the casualty had aspirated in her sleep.
- To produce an audible puff of breath, especially following a consonant, such as the letter "h" at the beginning of house or hat in standard English.
- There is no doubt that the uncertainty about the letter H, which much defaces English in some classes of the community, is due entirely to Norman influence, for Frenchmen could not aspirate. Three words—hour, honor, heir, with compounds of them such as hourly, honourable, heirship, and the like...1887, James Frederick Hodgetts, Greater England, page 33
Adjective
aspirate (comparative more aspirate, superlative most aspirate)
aspirate meaning in Tamil, Bengali and Vietnamese
aspirate in Tamil
- உறிஞ்சி, மூச்சொலி, மூச்சொலிக்குறியீடு, மூச்சொலியான, உயிர்ப்புடன் ஒலி, காற்றை உறிஞ்சியிழு
aspirate in Bengali
- linguistics: sound produced
- মহাপ্রাণ বর্ণ mohapran borno
aspirate in Vietnamese
- linguistics: to produce an audible puff of breath
- bật hơi
Synonyms of aspirate
Forms of aspirate
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | aspirates |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | aspirates |
| present participle | aspirating |
| past participle | aspirated |
| past | aspirated |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more aspirate |
| superlative | most aspirate |
Origin of aspirate
Learned borrowing from Latin aspīrātus.
Words formed from aspirate
Phrases with aspirate
Words that rhyme with aspirate
Questions about aspirate
- What does aspirate mean?
- Aspirate means the puff of air accompanying the release of a plosive or fricative consonant.
- What is aspirate in Tamil?
- Aspirate in Tamil is உறிஞ்சி, மூச்சொலி, மூச்சொலிக்குறியீடு. See Aspirate meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is aspirate?
- Aspirate can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce aspirate?
- Aspirate is pronounced /ˈæs.pəɹ.ət/ (UK).
- What is the plural of aspirate?
- The plural of aspirate is aspirates.
Words near aspirate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: aspirate (page history and authors); aspirate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-aspirate-noun.ogg, en-au-aspirate.ogg.
Cite this entry: “aspirate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/aspirate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.