ethereal

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Latin aetherius (“‘of or pertaining to the ether, the sky, or the air or upper air; ethereal’”), from Ancient Greek αἰθέριος (aitherios), “‘of or pertaining to the upper air; ethereal’”).

[edit] Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ɪˈθɪə.ri.əl/, SAMPA: /I"TI@.rI.@l/
• (US) IPA: /ɪˈθɪr.i.əl/, /əˈθɪr.i.əl/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

[edit] Adjective

ethereal (comparative more ethereal, superlative most ethereal)

1. Pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere; celestial; otherworldly; as, ethereal space; ethereal regions.
   • 1667: Milton, Paradise Lost, book VII

     Go, heavenly guest, ethereal messenger.

   • 1862: Thoreau, Walking.

     I trust that we shall be more imaginative, that our thoughts will be clearer, fresher, and more ethereal, as our sky,...

2. Consisting of ether; hence, exceedingly light or airy; tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy, as form, manner, thought, etc.
   • 1733: Pope, An Essay on Man

     Vast chain of being, which from God began, Natures ethereal, human, angel, man.

3. Delicate, light and airy.

[edit] Derived terms

• ethereality
• ethereally
• etherealness

[edit] Translations

[edit] References

• ethereal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913