TRANSPIRE

verb (~d; transpiring) Etymology: Middle French ~r, from Medieval Latin transpirare, from Latin trans- + spirare to breathe Date: 1597 transitive verb to pass off or give passage to (a fluid) through pores or interstices, intransitive verb to give off vaporous material, to pass in the form of a vapor from a living body, 3. to be revealed ; come to light, to become known or apparent ; develop , to take place ; go on , occur , Usage: Sense 4 of ~ is the frequent whipping boy of those who suppose sense 3 to be the only meaning of the word. Sense 4 appears to have developed in the late 18th century; it was well enough known to have been used by Abigail Adams in a letter to her husband in 1775 . Noah Webster recognized the new sense in his dictionary of 1828. Transpire was evidently a popular word with 19th century journalists; sense 4 turns up in such pretentiously worded statements as “The police drill will ~ under shelter to-day in consequence of the moist atmosphere prevailing.” Around 1870 the sense began to be attacked as a misuse on the grounds of etymology, and modern critics echo the damnation of 1870. Sense 4 has been in existence for about two centuries; it is firmly established as standard; it occurs now primarily in serious prose, not the ostentatiously flamboyant prose typical of 19th century journalism.