ethereal

WOTD - 9 March 2007    

English

Alternative forms

• aethereal
• æthereal
• æthereall (obsolete)
• ætherial
• ætheriall (obsolete)

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”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ɪˈθɪə.ri.əl/, SAMPA: /I"TI@.rI.@l/
• (US) IPA: /ɪˈθɪr.i.əl/, /əˈθɪr.i.əl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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.

Derived terms

• ethereality
• ethereally
• etherealness
• etherealization
• etherealisation
• etherealizing

Translations

Pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere

Bulgarian: ефирен (bg) Finnish: taivaallinen (fi) French: éthéré (fr) German: ätherisch (de)

Italian: etereo (it) Polish: eteryczny m., nieziemski m., niebiański m. Romanian: eteric (ro)

Consisting of ether; hence, exceedingly light or airy; tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy

Finnish: eteerinen, haihtuva French: éthéré (fr) Italian: etereo (it)

Polish: eteryczny m., lekki m., zwiewny m. Romanian: eteric (ro)

Delicate, light and airy

French: éthéré (fr) Italian: etereo (it)

Polish: eteryczny m., lekki m., zwiewny m. Romanian: eteric (ro)

References

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