ether

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: e=ther
• COUNT in NET: 2 in 2 verses (in OT : 2 in 2 verses)

CIDE DICTIONARY

ether, n. [L. aether, Gr. a'iqh`r, fr. a'i`qein to light up, kindle, burn, blaze; akin to Skr. idh, indh, and prob. to E. idle: cf. F. éther.].

•  A medium of great elasticity and extreme tenuity, once supposed to pervade all space, the interior of solid bodies not excepted, and to be the medium of transmission of light and heat; hence often called luminiferous ether. It is no longer believed that such a medium is required for the transmission of electromagnetic waves; the modern use of the term is mostly a figurative term for empty space, or for literary effect, and not intended to imply the actual existence of a physical medium. However. modern cosmological theories based on quantum field theory do not rule out the possibility that the inherent energy of the vacuum is greater than zero, in which case the concept of an ether pervading the vacuum may have more than metaphoric meaning.  [1913 Webster]
•  Supposed matter above the air; the air itself.  [1913 Webster]
•  A light, volatile, mobile, inflammable liquid, (C2H5)2O, of a characteristic aromatic odor, obtained by the distillation of alcohol with sulphuric acid, and hence called also sulphuric ether. It is a powerful solvent of fats, resins, and pyroxylin, but finds its chief use as an anæsthetic. Commonly called ethyl ether to distinguish it from other ethers, and also ethyl oxide.  [1913 Webster]

Complex ether, Mixed ether (Chem.), an ether in which the ether oxygen is attached to two radicals having different structures; as, ethyl methyl ether, C2H5.O.CH3. -- Compound ether (Chem.), an ethereal salt or a salt of some hydrocarbon as the base; an ester. -- Ether engine (Mach.), a condensing engine like a steam engine, but operated by the vapor of ether instead of by steam.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

ether, n.
1 Chem. a a colourless volatile organic liquid used as an anaesthetic or solvent. Also called DIETHYL ETHER, ETHOXYETHANE.

Usage

Chem. formula: C2H5OC2H5 b any of a class of organic compounds with a similar structure to this, having an oxygen joined to two alkyl etc. groups.
2 a clear sky; the upper regions of air beyond the clouds.
3 hist. a a medium formerly assumed to permeate space and fill the interstices between particles of matter. b a medium through which electromagnetic waves were formerly thought to be transmitted.

Derivative

etheric adj.

Etymology

ME f. OF ether or L aether f. Gk aither f. root of aitho burn, shine

THESAURUS

ether

Caelus, Dry Ice, Freon, Olympian heights, Pentothal, acme, aerial heights, air, airy nothing, ammonia, apex, azure, blue sky, bubble, caelum, canopy, canopy of heaven, carbon dioxide, cerulean, chaff, chip, chloroform, cobweb, cocaine, coolant, cope, cork, dizzy heights, down, dust, elevation, eminence, empyrean, ethyl chloride, ethylene, fairy, feather, firmament, flue, fluff, foam, freezing mixture, froth, fuzz, gas, gossamer, heaven, heavens, height, heights, hyaline, ice, ice cubes, illusion, lift, lifts, liquid air, liquid helium, liquid oxygen, menthol, mist, mote, nitrous oxide, ozone, phantom, raise, refrigerant, rise, rising ground, shadow, sky, smoke, spirit, sponge, spume, starry heaven, steep, stratosphere, straw, the blue, the blue serene, thin air, thistledown, uprise, vantage ground, vantage point, vapor, vault, vault of heaven, welkin, zenith

ROGET THESAURUS

ether

Levity

N levity, lightness, imponderability, buoyancy, volatility, feather, dust, mote, down, thistle, down, flue, cobweb, gossamer, straw, cork, bubble, balloon, float, buoy, ether, air, leaven, ferment, barm, yeast, lighter-than-air balloon, helium balloon, hydrogen balloon, hot air balloon, convection, thermal draft, thermal, light, subtile, airy, imponderous, imponderable, astatic, weightless, ethereal, sublimated, gossamery, suberose, suberous, uncompressed, volatile, buoyant, floating, portable, light as a feather, light as a thistle, light as air, lighter than air, rise like a balloon, float like a balloon.

Rarity

N rarity, tenuity, absence of solidity, subtility, subtilty, subtlety, sponginess, compressibility, rarefaction, expansion, dilatation, inflation, subtilization, vaporization, evaporation, diffusion, gassification, ether, rare, subtile, thin, fine, tenuous, compressible, flimsy, slight, light, cavernous, spongy, rarefied, unsubstantial, uncompact, incompressed, rarefiable.

Gaseity

N gaseity, vaporousness, flatulence, flatulency, volatility, aeration, aerification, elastic fluid, gas, air, vapor, ether, steam, essence, fume, reek, effluvium, flatus, cloud, ammonia, ammoniacal gas, volatile alkali, vacuum, partial vacuum, pneumatics, pneumatostatics, aerostatics, aerodynamics, gasmeter, gasometer, air bladder, swimming bladder, sound, (of a fish), gaseous, aeriform, ethereal, aerial, airy, vaporous, volatile, evaporable, flatulent.

Physical Insensibility

N insensibility, physical insensibility, obtuseness, palsy, paralysis, paraesthesia, anaesthesia, sleep, hemiplegia, motor paralysis, vegetable state, coma, anaesthetic agent, opium, ether, chloroform, chloral, nitrous oxide, laughing gas, exhilarating gas, protoxide of nitrogen, refrigeration, insensible, unfeeling, senseless, impercipient, callous, thick- skinned, pachydermatous, hard, hardened, case hardened, proof, obtuse, dull, anaesthetic, comatose, paralytic, palsied, numb, dead.