Word.ws English Dictionary

perspiration

Syllables: per·spi·ra·tionUK/ˌpɜːspəˈɹeɪʃən/US/ˌpɝspəˈɹeɪʃən/

perspiration noun: the action or process of perspiring.

Noun

perspiration (usually uncountable, plural perspirations)

  1. (usually) The action or process of perspiring.
    • The Cauſe may be Want of Perſpiration : For Much of the Matter of Haire, in the other Parts of the Body, goeth forth by Inſenſible Perſpiration ; And beſides, the Skull being of a more ſolide Subſtance, nouriſheth and aſſimilateth leſſe, and excerneth more.1627, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: or, A Naturall Historie, London: W. Lee, Cent. VII, section 680, page 170
  2. (metonymically, usually) Synonym of hard work.
    • Genius is 1 per cent. inspiration and 99 per cent. perspiration.1910, Frank Lewis Dyer, Thomas Commerford Martin, quoting Thomas Edison, Edison: His Life and Inventions, volume II, New York: Harper & Brothers, page 607
    Synonyms:
    hard work
  3. (usually) Sweat (fluid).
    • Passing his hand across his forehead he withdrew it, wet with drops of perspiration.1897, Marie Corelli, “Chapter II”, in Ziska: The Problem of a Wicked Soul, New York: Stone & Kimball, page 58

perspiration meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

perspiration in Tamil

வியர்த்தல், வியர்வை, இயல்பான வியர்வை, கடும் உழைப்பு, அக்கரன், உடற்குற்றம்

perspiration in Urdu

عرق, پسینہ

perspiration in Bengali

ঘাম, স্বেদ

perspiration in Telugu

perspiration, sweat
శ్రమజలము śramajalamu
More languagesFewer languages
perspiration in Malayalam
വിയർക്കൽ, വിയർപ്പ്, സ്വേദോദകം
perspiration in Kannada
ಬೆಮರ್, ಬೆಮರು, ಬೆವರ್, ಬೆವರು
perspiration in Gujarati
પસીનો pasīno
perspiration in Arabic
عَرَق ʕaraq
perspiration in Vietnamese
đổ mồ hôi

Examples of perspiration in a sentence

  • The fabric wicks perspiration away from the body.
  • The fabric is wicking perspiration away from the body.
  • His life mirrored his words: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

All 14 example sentences with perspiration

Synonyms of perspiration

All synonyms of perspiration

Forms of perspiration

pluralperspirations

Origin of perspiration

Borrowed from late Middle French perspiration, from perspirer (“perspire”), from Latin perspirare (“to blow or breathe constantly”), from per (“through”) + spirare (“to breathe, blow”). Morphologically perspire + -ation.

Words formed from perspiration

Words that rhyme with perspiration

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about perspiration

What does perspiration mean?
Perspiration means the action or process of perspiring.
What is perspiration in Tamil?
Perspiration in Tamil is வியர்த்தல், வியர்வை, இயல்பான வியர்வை. See Perspiration meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is perspiration?
Perspiration is a noun.
How do you pronounce perspiration?
Perspiration is pronounced /ˌpɜːspəˈɹeɪʃən/ (UK).
What is the plural of perspiration?
The plural of perspiration is perspirations.

Words near perspiration in the dictionary

  1. perspirants
  2. perspirate
  3. perspirated
  4. perspirates
  5. perspirating
  6. perspiration
  7. perspirations
  8. perspirative
  9. perspiratory
  10. perspire
  11. perspired

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: perspiration (page history and authors); perspiration (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perspiration (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perspiration (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); శ్రమజలము (Telugu) (page history and authors); perspiration (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perspiration (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); પસીનો (Gujarati) (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-ca-perspiration.oga.

Cite this entry: “perspiration.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/perspiration. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.