Transpiration
/ˌtræn.spəˈreɪ.ʃən/noun
The process by which plants lose water vapor through their leaves; also, the act of breathing or sweating out moisture.
Did you know?The word comes from Latin roots meaning “to breathe across,” and in early scientific writing it could describe a kind of invisible bodily exhalation before it became the plant term we know today.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*spē-
“to blow, breathe”
Latin
Latin
spirare
“to breathe, blow”
Latin
Latin
transpirare
“to breathe out, exhale; later, to transpire or pass off by exhalation”
14th–16th Century
Middle French
transpirer
“to exhale, pass off as vapor; later, to sweat”
16th Century
English
transpire
“to breathe out, exhale; later, to become known or happen”
19th Century
English
transpiration
“the process of giving off water vapor, especially by plants”