ethereal

English

WOTD – 9 March 2007

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

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

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈθɪə.ɹi.əl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪˈθɪɹ.i.əl/, /əˈθɪɹ.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.

   ethereal space

   ethereal regions

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
     , 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,...

2. Consisting of ether; hence, exceedingly light or airy; tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy, as form, manner, thought, etc.
   • 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 ! […]

3. Delicate, light and airy.
4. (chemistry) To do with ether.

Synonyms

• (pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air): aereous, mystical, transcendental; See also Thesaurus:cosmic
• (consisting of ether): ethereous; See also Thesaurus:gaseous, Thesaurus:insubstantial, or Thesaurus:subtle
• (delicate, light and airy): gossamer; See also Thesaurus:fragile
• (to do with ether): ethereous, etheric, etherical

Derived terms

Derived terms

• etherealisation
• ethereality
• etherealization

• etherealizing
• ethereally
• etherealness

Translations

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

• Bulgarian: ефирен (bg) (efiren)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空靈 (zh), 空灵 (zh) (kōnglíng)

• Czech: éterický m, nadpozemský m
• Finnish: taivaallinen (fi)
• French: éthéré (fr)
• German: ätherisch (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: αἰθέριος (aithérios)

• Hebrew: שְׁמֵימִי‎‎ (shmeimi)
• Irish: aerga
• Italian: etereo (it)
• Polish: eteryczny (pl) m, nieziemski m, niebiański (pl) m
• Romanian: eteric (ro)
• Russian: эфи́рный (ru) (efírnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: nadzemaljski (sh) m
• Spanish: etéreo (es)

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

• Czech: éterický m
• Finnish: eteerinen (fi), haihtuva (fi)
• French: éthéré (fr)

• Italian: etereo (it)
• Polish: eteryczny (pl) m, lekki (pl) m, zwiewny m
• Romanian: eteric (ro)

Delicate, light and airy

• Czech: éterický m
• French: éthéré (fr)
• German: himmlisch (de), ätherisch (de)

• Italian: etereo (it)
• Polish: eteryczny (pl) m, lekki (pl) m, zwiewny m
• Romanian: eteric (ro)

References

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