gossamer

WOTD – 19 January 2006    

English

Etymology

From Middle English gossomer, from gos (“goose”) + somer (“summer”).

Noun

gossamer (uncountable)

1. A fine film or strand as of cobwebs, floating in the air or caught on bushes etc.
2. A soft, sheer fabric.
3. Anything delicate, light and flimsy.

Derived terms

• gossamery (adjective)

Translations

cobwebs floating in the air

• Czech: babí léto (cs) n
• Dutch: herfstdraad m (usually in the plural: herfstdraden)
• Finnish: harso (fi), seitti (fi)
• French: fil de la Vierge (fr) m
• Hungarian: ökörnyál (hu)

• Irish: téada an phúca (ga) f pl
• Mandarin: 蛛絲 (cmn) (zhusi), 游絲 (cmn)
• Romanian: funigel (ro)
• Swedish: spindelväv (sv) n

a soft, sheer fabric

• Dutch: ragfijn weefsel (nl)
• Finnish: harso (fi), seitti (fi)

• Hungarian: fátyolszövet (hu)
• Mandarin: 薄紗 (cmn)

anything delicate, light, flimsy

• Dutch: delikaat (nl)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: flodder(tje)

Adjective

gossamer (comparative more gossamer, superlative most gossamer)

1. Tenuous, light, filmy or delicate.

   "The heaven was spangled with tremulous stars, and at the horizon the clouds hung down in gossamer folds---God's robe trailing in the sea!" — Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836-1907)

Synonyms

• gossamery

Translations

tenuous, light, filmy or delicate

• Finnish: seitinohut (fi), harsomainen (fi)
• Italian: sottile (it), delicato (it)

• Russian: тонкий (ru) (tonkij)