Conspiring

How to spell conspiring

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce conspiring

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conspiring mean?

1. verbSecretly planning together with others to do something unlawful or harmful.

Conspiring in a sentence

• The two suppliers were conspiring to fix prices across the region.

• Investigators accused several executives of conspiring to defraud the pension fund.

Where does conspiring come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb conspirare, which literally meant 'to breathe together'. It was built from con- 'together' and spirare 'to breathe', the same root that gives us 'respire', 'inspire', and 'spirit'. The poetic image was of people so closely in agreement that they seemed to breathe in unison, which slid easily into the darker sense of plotting secretly toward a shared aim. English took the verb in through Old French conspirer during the 1300s, and the -ing participle simply added the standard English ending. Remembering that hidden 'spir' (breathe) helps keep the single 's' and the 'i' in place, since the trap is hearing the unstressed middle and guessing at the spelling.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• spir (from spirare: to breathe)
• -ing (present participle)