Aspirate

Definitions

1. The puff of air accompanying the release of a plosive or fricative consonant.
2. A sound produced by such a puff of air.
3. A mark of aspiration (ʽ) used in Greek; the asper, or rough breathing.
4. A sample of fluid, tissue, or other substance that is withdrawn via aspiration (usually through a hollow needle) from a body cavity, cyst, or tumor.

Equivalents

Examples

“We now come⟳ to the so-called aspirate [h], which must be also classified as a fricative consonant.”

“a. 1742, Richard Bentley, letter to Dr. Mead But we must correct⟳ then twenty authors who have⟳ it in the compound ἀπηθεῖν and ἀπήθημα ; and not (as the aspirate would require⟳ it) ἀφηθεῖν and αφήθημα”

CEFR level