Anhelation
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Breathing difficulty, shortness of breath. archaic, uncountable
"In a Diſpnœa, the breath is thick, vvithout noiſe or anhelation, and vvith leſs trouble."
- 2 Mental or spiritual agitation. figuratively, obsolete, uncountable
- 3 Followed by after or for: eager desire; (countable) an instance of this. figuratively, obsolete, uncountable
"[T]ruſt not upon that rule, that men buy cheapeſt at the end of the market, that heaven may be had for a breath at laſt, vvhen they that hear it cannot tel vvhether it be a ſigh or a gaſp, a religious breathing and anhelation after the next life, or natural breathing out, and exhalation of this; but find a ſpiritual good husbandry in that other rule, that the prime of the market is to be had at firſt: […]"
Example
More examples"In a Diſpnœa, the breath is thick, vvithout noiſe or anhelation, and vvith leſs trouble."
Etymology
From French anhélation, or directly from its etymon Latin anhēlātiō (“shortness of breath, gasping, panting, puffing”) (compare Late Latin anhēlātiō (“desire; eager pursuit”)), from anhēlātus (“exhaled”) + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs). Anhēlātus is the perfect passive participle of anhēlō (“to breathe out, exhale; to draw breath with difficulty, gasp, pant, puff”).
More for "anhelation"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.