ethereal
adjective
William Beebe
Did you know?
If you're burning to know the history of ethereal, you're in the right spirit to fully understand the word's etymology. The ancient Greeks believed that the Earth was composed of earth, air, fire, and water, but that the heavens and its denizens were made of a purer, less tangible substance known (in English transliteration) as either quintessence or ether. Ether was often described as an invisible light or fire; its name comes from the Greek verb aithein, meaning "to ignite" or "to blaze." When ethereal, the adjectival kin of ether, debuted in English in the 1500s, it described regions beyond the Earth or anything that seemed to originate from them.
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Examples of ethereal in a Sentence
Jp Shaffer, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024
Mercurial Landscapes Cincinnati Ballet brings four dynamic contemporary works to the stage with Max Richter’s ethereal re-composition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
—Allison Kiehl, The Enquirer, 3 Apr. 2024
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“Ethereal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethereal. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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ethereal
adjective
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ethereal
adjective
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