hupaithric

English

Alternative forms

• hypaethric
• upaithric

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὕπαιθρος (húpaithros) with the addition of -ic, the former from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + αἰθήρ (aithḗr, “air, ether”).

Adjective

hupaithric (not comparable)

1. (rare) Roofless; open to the sky.

   Synonyms: hypaethral, hypethral

   • 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 287:

     that spacious cell
     Like an upaithric temple wide and high,
     Whose aëry dome is inaccessible,
     Was pierced with one round cleft through which the sunbeams fell.

   • 1980, William Blackwood, Blackwood's Magazine:

     Their temples were mostly hupaithric; and the flying clouds, the stars, or the deep sky, were seen above.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “hupaithric”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.