ethereal
Contents
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Latin aetherius (“of or pertaining to the ether, the sky, or the air or upper air; ethereal”), from Ancient Greek αἰθέριος (aithérios, “of or pertaining to the upper air; ethereal”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪˈθɪə.ɹi.əl/
- (US) IPA(key): /ɪˈθɪɹ.i.əl/, /əˈθɪɹ.i.əl/
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Audio (US) (file)
Adjective[edit]
ethereal (comparative more ethereal, superlative most ethereal)
- Pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere; celestial; otherworldly.
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ethereal space
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ethereal regions
- 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Second Edition, Book VII, lines 1282–4:
- Since to part, / Go heavenly Gueſt, Ethereal Meſſenger, / Sent from whoſe ſovran goodneſs I adore.
- 1862: Thoreau, Walking.
- I trust that we shall be more imaginative, that our thoughts will be clearer, fresher, and more ethereal, as our sky,...
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- Consisting of ether; hence, exceedingly light or airy; tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy, as form, manner, thought, etc.
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1733–34, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, Glasgow: Robert Farie, published 1787, epistle I, lines 237–246, page 7:
- Vaſt chain of being ! which from God began, / Natures ethereal, human, angel, man, / Beaſt, bird, fiſh, inſect ! […]
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- Delicate, light and airy.
- (chemistry) To do with ether.
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
Translations[edit]
Pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere
Consisting of ether; hence, exceedingly light or airy; tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy
Delicate, light and airy
References[edit]
- ethereal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
