sylph
/sɪlf/ noun
Forms sylphs
- noun (mythology) An invisible being of the air.
- noun The elemental being of air, usually female.
- noun (by extension) A slender woman or girl, usually graceful and sometimes with the implication of sublime station over everyday people.
- noun (ornithology) Any of the mainly dark green and blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.
Synonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sylph”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details