as·pire / əˈspī(ə)r/ • v. [intr.] direct one's hopes or ambitions toward achieving something: we never thought that we might aspire to those heights. ∎ poetic/lit. rise high; tower.

aspire have a desire for something above one XV; rise up, mount XVI. — (O)F. aspirer or L. aspīrāre have an ambition, etc., f. AD- + spīrāre breathe.
So aspirant XVIII. — F. or L. aspirate adj. XVII; sb. XVIII. — pp. of L. aspīrāre. aspirate vb. XVIII. aspiration XIV. — (O)F. — L.