aspiration
Pluralaspirations
- 1An ardent wish or desire, especially for something elevated or spiritual.
His lifelong aspiration to serve the poor shaped every decision he made.
The novel captures a generation's aspiration toward freedom and dignity.
Similarambition, dream, hope, desire, aim
Note
The ambitious sense stands apart from the rest. It is built on aspire, while the breathing, phonetic and medical meanings come from aspirate. Two constructions carry it: to with a verb (an aspiration to become a doctor) and of with an -ing form (an aspiration of winning). In the plural it suits institutional plans as well as personal hopes. Modern Railways in 2019 says TfL "retains aspirations" to run more trains.
- 2The action of drawing air, fluid, or other matter inward by breathing or suction.
The aspiration of stomach contents into the airway is a serious risk during anesthesia.
Repeated aspiration of fine dust over many years damaged the miners' lungs.
Similarinhalation
- 3The withdrawal of fluid, tissue, or other matter from a body cavity, cyst, or tumor, usually through a hollow needle.
Fine-needle aspiration confirmed that the lump in her neck was benign.
The surgeon scheduled an aspiration to drain the abscess before closing the wound.
Note
In clinical use the word names a deliberate procedure with two purposes: sampling cells or fluid for diagnosis, or draining a collection as treatment. Keep it apart from aspiration into the airway, where matter is drawn in by accident and the word signals a complication. Here something is drawn out on purpose, so the context usually makes clear which one is meant.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Medical aspiration deliberately removes material from the body, including fluid or tissue through a needle. cancer.gov
- The procedure can obtain diagnostic samples or remove a fluid collection as treatment. medlineplus.gov
- Airway aspiration involves accidentally drawing foreign matter into the respiratory tract. cancer.gov
- 4The puff of air released immediately after certain consonant sounds.
In English, aspiration distinguishes the initial 'p' of 'pot' from the quieter 'p' in 'spot'.
Speakers of some languages hear aspiration as a wholly separate sound.
Note
Phoneticians write it as a small raised h, as in /pʰ/. It comes from a short delay before the voice starts once a stop consonant is released. In English it is predictable: voiceless stops carry it in stressed, syllable-initial position, so most speakers never notice it. In Cambodian it is phonemic, and /p/ and /pʰ/ count as different sounds.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Aspiration is represented by a superscript h, as in pʰ. ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub
- Postaspiration involves a delay between a stop's release and the onset of voicing. ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub
- English voiceless stops predictably have aspiration in stressed, syllable-initial position, and native speakers commonly produce it without noticing. ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub
- Cambodian distinguishes aspirated and unaspirated stops, including p and pʰ. researchgate.net
- 5The silent, liaison-blocking 'h' that begins some French words, mostly of Germanic origin.
Because of its aspiration, 'le héros' never contracts to 'l'héros'.
The aspiration on certain French words prevents both elision and liaison.
Note
A paradox of French spelling: the h makes no sound, yet it behaves like a consonant. The article stays le instead of shortening to l', and no linking sound carries over from the word before. The name can mislead English readers, because nothing is breathed here, unlike the phonetic puff of air. What survives is the h's effect on its neighbors.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- French h aspiré is normally silent but blocks elision and liaison. dictionnaire-academie.fr
- Before a masculine noun beginning with h aspiré, le remains le rather than becoming l'. dictionnaire-academie.fr
- Words beginning with French h aspiré are mostly of Germanic origin. dictionnaire-academie.fr
- 6A form of lenition marked in spelling by writing a consonant as a digraph with 'h', especially word-initially.
Celtic languages indicate aspiration by inserting 'h' after the lenited consonant.
In this orthography, aspiration changes 'p' to 'ph' at the start of a word.
Note
A Gaelic spelling convention: when lenition softens a consonant, the change is shown by an h written after it, so p becomes ph at the start of a word. The h marks a change in the consonant itself, a historical softening of the sound, rather than adding a separate sound of its own. The term belongs to grammars and spelling guides more than to phonetics.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Gaelic lenition is commonly marked by writing h after the affected consonant, especially word-initially. learngaelic.scot
- An initial p becomes ph in writing when lenited. gaelicgrammar.org
- The h marks weakening of the consonant rather than an additional independent sound; aspiration is a traditional grammatical name for this process. gaelicgrammar.org
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of aspiration apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origins
Formed from the verb "aspire" combined with the suffix "-ation".
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- Aspiration is formed from the verb aspire plus the suffix -ation. en.wiktionary.org
Formed from "aspirate" plus the suffix "-ion", or borrowed from Latin "aspiratio".
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- Aspiration is formed from aspirate plus -ion, or borrowed from Latin aspiratio. en.wiktionary.org