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sylph

noun
/sɪlf/

Etymology

First attested in 1657. From New Latin sylphes, coined by Paracelsus in the 16th century. The coinage may derive from Latin sylvestris (“of the woods”) and nympha (“nymph”). Ultimately from the root silva (“woods, forest”). Related to sylvan. More at Wikipedia.

  1. derived from sylvestris
  2. derived from sylphes

Definitions

  1. An invisible being of the air.

    • Her heart fluttered with expectation—her step was buoyant with hope, and she sprung into the carriage with the lightness of a sylph.
    • Necromancy meant originally the conjuring up the souls of the dead, and later included the conjuring of all sorts of inhuman spirits such as sylphs, giants, and djinn.

  2. The elemental being of air, usually female.

  3. A slender woman or girl, usually graceful and sometimes with the implication of sublime…

    A slender woman or girl, usually graceful and sometimes with the implication of sublime station over everyday people.

  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. Any of the mainly dark green and blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of…

      Any of the mainly dark green and blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.

The neighborhood

Derived

sylphic, sylphish, sylphlike, sylphy

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for sylph. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA