'Transpire' is Latin for 'breathe through' — it shifted from vapor emission to information leaking to 'happening.'
To occur or happen; to prove to be the case; (of a plant or leaf) to give off water vapour through the stomata; (archaic) to become known, to leak out.
From Medieval Latin 'transpīrāre' (to breathe across or through, to emit vapour through the surface), from Latin 'trāns-' (across, through, beyond, from PIE *terh₂- meaning to cross over or pass through) + 'spīrāre' (to breathe, to blow, to be alive), from PIE *speys- (to blow, to breathe, to puff). The PIE root *speys- may connect to *pnew- (to breathe, to sneeze) via a labial extension. Latin 'spīrāre' generated a large family: 'spīritus' (breath, spirit), 'perspīrāre' (to breathe through — perspire), 'cōnspīrāre' (to breathe together — conspire), 'expīrāre' (to breathe out — expire), 'īnspīrāre' (to breathe into — inspire), 'aspīrāre' (to breathe toward — aspire). 'Transpīrāre' entered English
The use of 'transpire' to mean 'happen' has been controversial for over two centuries. Usage authorities from the nineteenth century onward have objected that 'transpire' properly means 'to become known' (information breathing out through barriers of secrecy) and that using it as a synonym for 'happen' is an error. Nevertheless, the 'happen' sense has been in continuous use since at least 1775 and is now the most common meaning in everyday English — a victory of popular usage over prescriptive objection.
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