[tran.spire] vb tran.spired ; tran.spir.ing [MF transpirer, fr. L trans- + spirare to breathe] vt (1597): to pass off or give passage to (a fluid) through pores or interstices; esp: to excrete (as water) in the form of a vapor through a living membrane (as the skin) ~ vi 1: to give off vaporous material; specif: to give off or exude watery vapor esp. from the surfaces of leaves
2: to pass in the form of a vapor from a living body 3 a: to be revealed: come to light b: to become known or apparent: develop
4: to take place: go on, occur usage Sense
4. of transpire 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 "there is nothing new transpired since I wrote you last --Abigail Adams". 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 transpire 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.