Perspiration

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌpɜːspəˈɹeɪʃən/

Definitions

1. A salty liquid produced by sweat glands in the skin to cool the body down through evaporation
2. The process of secreting moisture from the sweat glands occurs to regulate body temperature, and the resulting fluid is typically salty and excreted through the skin
3. This is a bodily fluid released through the skin's glands to help with thermoregulation, characterized by its salinity and evaporative cooling effects

Etymology: Perspiration is a close cousin of "spirit" and "inspire", all of them built on the Latin verb "spirare", "to breathe". The prefix "per-" means "through", so the Latin "perspirare" meant to breathe through or blow through something, and by extension to breathe constantly or to exhale. The idea of breath passing out through the body is the seed of the modern sense, since sweat is moisture that seeps out through the skin in much the same way that breath leaves the lungs. The word passed into English by way of late Middle French "perspiration", which came from the French verb "perspirer". English took it in directly from French, and the word has kept the same literal logic ever since. The English verb "perspire" was formed from the same Latin root, and "perspiration" is simply that verb with the common noun ending "-ation" attached, meaning the act or process of perspiring.

Synonyms: sweat, exudation, perspiring, secretion, moisture

Antonyms: dryness, aridity, desiccation, drought, lack