English
conspiracy
Conspiracy comes from Latin cōnspīrātiō ‘plot, mutiny, conspiracy’, and goes back to spīrō ‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrō‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnspīrō‘to plot or conspire’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnspīrātiō‘plot, mutiny, conspiracy’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400conspiracie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1834conspiracy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīrō‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnspīrō‘to plot or conspire’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnspīrātiō‘plot, mutiny, conspiracy’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400conspiracie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1834conspiracy
Earliest quotation: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “Conspiracies, like all other exercises of human ingenuity, are…”
Formed from conspire + -acy
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- ‘to breathe’
through Latin spīrō ‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’
spirit, spree, respiratory, expire, sprite, aspire, esprit, aspiration, spire, aspirant, 51 more
Today it means
noun An agreement or arrangement between multiple parties to do something harmful, immoral or subversive; an instance of collusion.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin spīrō / conspiracy