respirer

\ʁes.pi.ʁe\

/\ʁes.pi.ʁe\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“respirer” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #6,340. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,340
frequency rank, French
5,742
“R” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Amener l’air dans ses poumons, assimiler l’oxygène et rejeter du gaz carbonique.

Corpus desk

Index FR-respirer · respirer · French

respirer · rank #6,340 · 12 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,340
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,742
  • PHOTO-FINISH rattraper

Nearest frequency peer: rattraper (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « respirer »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « respirer » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

respirer vs retirer
75% similar
respirer vs respirez
88% similar
respirer vs réparer
63% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for respirer
PropertyValue
Headwordrespirer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ʁes.pi.ʁe\
Letters8
Frequency rank#6,340
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « respirer »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).respirerse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « rattraper » (#6,339), « resto » (#6,341), « puissances » (#6,337). Parmi 5,742 lemmes en « R », « respirer » est au #6,340. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around respirer (IPA \ʁes.pi.ʁe\), averb. Corpus frequency is #6,340 among 5,742 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for respirer, with forms such as "erspirer", "repsirer", and "resiprer". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "retirer", "respirez", "réparer", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is respirer, spelled R-E-S-P-I-R-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Amener l’air dans ses poumons, assimiler l’oxygène et rejeter du gaz carbonique.
  2. 2
    Vivre.
  3. 3
    Prendre un peu de relâche après de graves soucis, après de grandes peines, après un travail pénible.
  4. 4
    Amener dans les poumons et rejeter ensuite.
  5. 5
    Aspirer.
  6. 6
    Exhaler, diffuser.
  7. 7
    Annoncer, exprimer, témoigner vivement.
  8. 8
    Désirer ardemment.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how respirer appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Bakounine nous tendit les deux mains et, respirant difficilement, à cause de son asthme, se leva et se mit à s’habiller.
  2. Le doigt sur la détente de nos armes, tous les muscles tendus, ne respirant plus, nous attendons... et il me semble qu'il se passe une éternité...

This word in other languages

breathe(English)respirar(Español)atmen(Deutsch)relaxar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • erspirer
  • repsirer
  • resiprer
  • respierr
  • respirerr
  • respirre
  • respirrer
  • resppirer
  • resprier
  • resspirer
  • rrespirer
  • rsepirer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of respirer - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

erspirer2repsirer2resiprer2respierr2respirerr1respirre2respirrer1resppirer1
Edit distance from "respirer"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "respirer"?
"respirer" is spelled R-E-S-P-I-R-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁes.pi.ʁe\.
What does "respirer" mean?
As a verb, "respirer" means: Amener l’air dans ses poumons, assimiler l’oxygène et rejeter du gaz carbonique.
What words are commonly confused with "respirer"?
"respirer" is commonly confused with "retirer", "respirez", "réparer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "respirer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "respirer" is \ʁes.pi.ʁe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "respirer" come from?
"respirer" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "respirer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

prudence#6,335pourriez#6,333plaintes#6,331trahison#6,350

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

rattraper12 variantsurgences12 variantsnouveauté12 variantsmaquillage12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list