Plural of breather; short breaks or pauses, or creatures and devices that breathe or allow breathing.
From 'breathe' (Old English breathan, to exhale) plus '-er' (agent suffix). Emerged in 19th century as both a literal term for creatures/devices and as slang for rest breaks.
The slang 'take a breather' became so common in the 1900s that English speakers applied the word to anything providing relief—even non-breathing things like 'financial breathers' in business!
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