Exhale

How to spell exhale

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce exhale

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does exhale mean?

1. verbTo breathe air out from the lungs, or to give off a vapour, scent, or smoke.

Exhale in a sentence

• The yoga instructor told the class to exhale slowly through the nose.

• She paused to exhale before lifting the heavy box again.

Where does exhale come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb exhalare, formed from the prefix ex-, meaning 'out', and the verb halare, meaning 'to breathe' or 'to give off vapour'. The literal Latin sense was therefore 'to breathe out' or 'to send forth as a vapour', and early uses in English carried both the breathing meaning and the broader idea of emitting smoke, scent, or steam. English took the word up around the late 1300s and 1400s, partly through Old French and partly straight from the Latin, which is why the spelling keeps its classical shape. The same halare root quietly survives in 'inhale' (to breathe in) and 'halitosis' (bad breath), so picturing breath moving 'out' through the silent-feeling 'h' is a useful memory hook. The spelling trap is simply remembering that 'h' after the 'ex', since the sound runs together in speech.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• hale (to breathe, from Latin halare 'to breathe')