ether

See also Ether

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• aether, æther (former British spellings)
• aethyr, ethyr (archaic spellings)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈiːθə/
• (US) IPA: /ˈiː.θɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Rhymes: -iːθə(r)

Etymology

From Latin æther (“the upper pure, bright air”), from Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithēr, “upper air”), from αἴθω (aithō, “I burn, shine”).

Noun

ether (countable and uncountable; plural ethers)

1. (organic chemistry, countable) A compound containing an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrocarbon groups.
2. (organic chemistry, uncountable) Diethyl ether (C₄H₁₀O), a compound used as an early anaesthetic.
3. (ancient philosophy and alchemy, uncountable) A classical physical element, considered as prevalent in the heavens and inaccessible to humans. In some versions of alchemy, this was the fifth element in addition to air, earth, fire and water.
4. (archaic, physics, uncountable) A substance (aether) once thought to fill all space that allowed electromagnetic waves to pass through it and interact with matter, without exerting any resistance to matter or energy (disproved by Einstein in his Theory of Relativity).
5. (poetic or literary) The sky or heavens; the upper air.

Quotations

• For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.

Derived terms

• crown ether
• lariat ether
• petroleum ether
• pyroacetic ether
• sulfur ether, sulphur ether

Translations

organic chemistry: a compound containing an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrocarbon groups

Bulgarian: етер (bg) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 醚 (zh) (mí) Finnish: eetteri (fi) German: Äther (de) m., Ether (de) m. Greek: αιθέρας (el) (aithéras) m. Hungarian: éter (hu)

Icelandic: ljósvaki (is) m. Japanese: エーテル (ja) (ēteru) Polish: eter (pl) m. Russian: эфир (ru) (efír) m. Scottish Gaelic: adhar fìnealta (gd) m. Swedish: eter (sv) c.

organic chemistry: diethyl ether, C₄H₁₀O

Chinese: Mandarin: 乙醚 (zh) (yǐmí)

Hungarian: éter (hu) Malay: eter (ms) Polish: eter (pl) m. Russian: эфир (ru) (efír) m.

the fifth classic physical element

Bulgarian: етер (bg) m. German: Äther (de) m., Ether (de) m. Greek: αιθέρας (el) (aithéras) m. Ancient: αἰθήρ (aithēr) m. Hungarian: éter (hu) Icelandic: ljósvaki (is) m.

Japanese: エーテル (ja) (ēteru) Polish: eter (pl) m. Russian: эфир (ru) (efír) m. Sanskrit: आकाश (sa) (ākāśa) m. Scottish Gaelic: adhar fìnealta (gd) m. Swedish: eter (sv) c.

archaic: space filling substance

Bulgarian: етер (bg) m. Chinese: 以太 (cmn) German: Äther (de) m. Greek: αιθέρας (el) (aithéras) m. Hungarian: éter (hu) Icelandic: ljósvaki (is) m. Japanese: エーテル (ja) (ēteru), イーサー (ja) (īsā)

Polish: eter (pl) m. Portuguese: éter (pt) m. Russian: эфир (ru) (efír) m. Scottish Gaelic: adhar fìnealta (gd) m. Spanish: éter (es) m. Swedish: eter (sv) c.

poetic and literary: the sky or heavens; the upper air

Bulgarian: ефир (bg) m. Greek: Ancient: αἰθήρ (aithēr) m.

Hungarian: éter (hu) Portuguese: éter (pt) m.

Anagrams

• Reeth, theer, there, three

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Dutch

Noun

ether m. (plural ethers, ^??? please provide the diminutive!)

1. (broadcasting) air, broadcasting

   De televisieaanbieder gaat digitale televisie via de ether uitzenden. The television provider is going to broadcast digital television over the air.

2. ether

Derived terms

• etherisch

Anagrams

• heter