Meaning

noun the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing

noun the air that is inhaled and exhaled in respiration

noun a short respite

originFrom Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-West Germanic *brāþi (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”) (compare German Brodem (“haze, vapor; breath”), of a different but related formation).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0