ASPIRATE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Aspirate

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/ˈæspərˌeɪt/ Listen

noun

Aspirate n.

A sound consisting of, or characterized by, a breath like the sound of h; the breathing h or a character representing such a sound; an aspirated sound.

A mark of aspiration used in Greek; the asper, or rough breathing.

An elementary sound produced by the breath alone; a surd, or nonvocal consonant; as, f, th in thin, etc.

verb

Aspirate v. t. (past & past part. aspirated; pres. part. aspirating) To pronounce with a breathing, an aspirate, or an h sound; as, we aspirate the words horse and house; to aspirate a vowel or a liquid consonant.

adjective

Aspirated, Aspirate adj. Pronounced with the h sound or with audible breath. "But yet they are not aspirate, i. e., with such an aspiration as h."

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Etymology of 'Aspirate'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Aspirate" Quotes from Famous Books

... aspirate was uttered, the boy came running silently out of the darkness, with his hand raised ...

— In the Pecos Country • Edward Sylvester Ellis (AKA Lieutenant R.H. Jayne)

... the Yankee, had a twang like a cracked viol; and Shorty (as his comrade called him), clipped the aspirate from every word beginning with one. The latter, though not the tallest man in the world, was a good-looking young fellow of twenty-five. His cheeks were dyed with the fine Saxon red, burned deeper from his roving life: his blue eye opened well, and a profusion ...

— Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas • Herman Melville

... proper names still remaining to be spelt in the letters of that alphabet, have led several etymologists into great errors, not only with regard to the letter X, but more particularly in the m final, and the h incipient, the former being pronounced ng, and the latter with a strong aspirate, as sh. Thus the name of the second Emperor of the present dynasty is almost universally written in Europe Cam-hi, whereas it is as universally ...

— Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey thr • John Barrow

... with an aspirate, according to the Arabesque guttural. It means what there is as yet no precise name for in England, though the practice is as common as in any tramontane ...

— The Works of Lord Byron, Volume 4 • Lord Byron

... Professor Knapp as the feminine of hinjiro, 'executioner,' from djandjir, 'a chain.' {0z4} But there is no such word as hinjero, and hinjiri is merely the English 'injury' with a superfluous aspirate. ...

— The Romany Rye - A Sequel to 'Lavengro' • George Borrow

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