haleine

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French aleine, deverbal from alener (to breathe), from Medieval Latin anhēlō by metathesis. The h appeared around the 16th century under the influence of Latin hālō (to blow).

Pronunciation

  • (mute h) IPA(key): /a.lɛn/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (Paris):(file)
  • Homophones: alène, alènes, alêne, alênes, allen, Allen, allène, allènes, haleines, halène, halènent, halènes
  • Rhymes: -ɛn

Noun

haleine f (plural haleines)

  1. breath
    • 1640, Pierre Corneille, Horace, act 4, scene 2:
      Tout hors d'haleine il prend pourtant sa place
      All out of breath he took nonetheless his place
  2. breathing, respiration

Derived terms

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