aether

See also: Aether and æther

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈiː.θə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈi.θɚ/
• (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this pronunciation?) (US) IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ.θɚ/

  • Audio (US); [ˈeɪ.θɚ]:

    (file)

Noun

aether (countable and uncountable, plural aethers)

1. Alternative spelling of ether.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:aether.

Derived terms

• aetherometry
• aether wave
• luminiferous aether

Anagrams

• Heater, eather, hearte, heater, hereat, reheat

Latin

aethēr (sky)

Great lightning extending far above the cloud level, that is, striking through the aethēr

Alternative forms

• ether (Medieval Latin)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithḗr, “sky; ether”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈae̯.tʰeːr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɛː.ter]

Noun

aethēr m (genitive aetheris); third declension

1. (Graecism) sky, ether (distinct in this sense from caelum (“heaven”), which is where the night's stars are, but not always distinguished from āēr; always distinct from the underworld)

   Synonym: caelum

2. (Greek mythology, Greek philosophy) the substance filling the sky above the clouds (above the tropopause), distinct from āēr at cloud level and below
3. (alchemy, Medieval Latin, New Latin) ether, quintessence

Usage notes

• The exact meaning of aethēr reflects the scientific or philosophical worldview of the author using it, which could be fairly different, because this Greek concept was often redefined by philosophers. For example, it has been defined both as "fire" and as an element outside of the scheme of the four elements by different ancient philosophers, which definitions are in conflict. Epicureans such as Vergil tend to reveal the "fire" definition of aethēr.
• The oldest Greek use, as gleaned from Homer, physically puts aethēr above cloud level, and designates it as the sky that is ignited with the light of dawn and with daylight. This corresponds to the stratosphere.

Declension

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, variant with nominative singular in -ēr).

	singular	plural
nominative	aethēr	aetherēs
genitive	aetheris	aetherum
dative	aetherī	aetheribus
accusative	aethera aetherem	aetherēs
ablative	aethere	aetheribus
vocative	aethēr	aetherēs

The genitive occasionally appears as the Ancient Greek, aetheros. In Medieval Latin the Grecian singular accusative was sometimes confused for a neuter plural.

Related terms

• aetherius
• aethra

Descendants

• → Catalan: èter
• → Danish: æter, ether
• → Dutch: ether
  • Afrikaans: eter
  • → Indonesian: ètêr
  • → Japanese: エーテル (ēteru)
• → English: ether, æther, aether (British, dated, obsolete in chemistry), aethyr, ethyr (archaic)
  • → Korean: 에테르 (etereu)
  • → Chinese: 以太 (yǐtài)
• → French: éther, æther (obsolete)
  • → Czech: éter
  • → Hungarian: éter
  • → Ottoman Turkish: اتر (eter)
    • Turkish: eter
  • → Romanian: eter
  • → Slovak: éter
• → Galician: éter
• → German: Äther, Ether
• → Italian: etere
• → Lithuanian: eteris
• → Norwegian: eter
• → Piedmontese: étere
• → Portuguese: éter
• → Sicilian: ètiri
• → Spanish: éter
• → Swedish: eter

References

• “aether”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “aether”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “aether”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “aether”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray