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sylph - 5 dictionary results
sylph
[silf] 
–noun
| 1. | a slender, graceful woman or girl. |
| 2. | (in folklore) one of a race of supernatural beings supposed to inhabit the air. |
Origin:
1650–60; < NL sylphēs (pl.), coined by Paracelsus; appar. b. sylva (var. sp. of L silva forest) and Gk nýmphē nymph
1650–60; < NL sylphēs (pl.), coined by Paracelsus; appar. b. sylva (var. sp. of L silva forest) and Gk nýmphē nymph
Related forms:
sylphic, adjective
sylphlike, adjective
Synonyms:
2. Sylph, salamander, undine (nymph), gnome were imaginary beings inhabiting the four elements once believed to make up the physical world. All except the gnomes were female. Sylphs dwelt in the air and were light, dainty, and airy beings. Salamanders dwelt in fire: “a salamander that … lives in the midst of flames” (Addison). Undines were water spirits: By marrying a man, an undine could acquire a mortal soul. (They were also called nymphs, though nymphs were ordinarily minor divinities of nature who dwelt in woods, hills, and meadows as well as in waters.) Gnomes were little old men or dwarfs, dwelling in the earth: ugly enough to be king of the gnomes.
2. Sylph, salamander, undine (nymph), gnome were imaginary beings inhabiting the four elements once believed to make up the physical world. All except the gnomes were female. Sylphs dwelt in the air and were light, dainty, and airy beings. Salamanders dwelt in fire: “a salamander that … lives in the midst of flames” (Addison). Undines were water spirits: By marrying a man, an undine could acquire a mortal soul. (They were also called nymphs, though nymphs were ordinarily minor divinities of nature who dwelt in woods, hills, and meadows as well as in waters.) Gnomes were little old men or dwarfs, dwelling in the earth: ugly enough to be king of the gnomes.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To sylph
| sylph (sĭlf) n.
[New Latin sylpha, perhaps blend of Latin sylvestris, of the forest (from silva, sylva, forest) and Latin nympha, nymph; see nymph.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Sylph
Sylph\, n. [F. sylphe, m., fr. Gr. ? a kind of grub, beetle, or moth; -- so called by Paracelsus.]1. An imaginary being inhabiting the air; a fairy. 2. Fig.: A slender, graceful woman. 3. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of very brilliant South American humming birds, having a very long and deeply-forked tail; as, the blue-tailed sylph (Cynanthus cyanurus).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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sylph
1657, from Mod.L. sylphes (pl.), coined 16c. by Paracelsus (1493-1541), originally referring to any race of spirits inhabiting the air, described as being mortal but lacking a soul. Paracelsus' word seems to be an arbitrary coinage, but perhaps it holds a suggestion of L. sylva and Gk. nymph. The meaning "slender, graceful girl" first recorded 1838, on the notion of "light, airy movements." Silphid (1680) are the younger or smaller variety, from Fr. sylphide (1671).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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sylph
an imaginary or elemental being that inhabits the air and is mortal but soulless. The existence of such beings was first postulated by the medieval physician Paracelsus, who associated a different being with each of the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water). Compare gnome; undine.
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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