Hypertext Webster Gateway: "ethereal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Ethereal \E*the"re*al\, a.
1. Pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air, or to the
higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere;
celestial; as, ethereal space; ethereal regions.
Go, heavenly guest, ethereal messenger. --Milton.
2. Consisting of ether; hence, exceedingly light or airy;
tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy, as
form, manner, thought, etc.
Vast chain of being, which from God began, Natures
ethereal, human, angel, man. --Pope.
3. (Chem.) Pertaining to, derived from, or resembling, ether;
as, ethereal salts.
{Ethereal oil}. (Chem.) See {Essential oil}, under
{Essential}.
{Ethereal oil of wine} (Chem.), a heavy, yellow, oily liquid
consisting essentially of etherin, etherol, and ethyl
sulphate. It is the oily residuum left after
etherification. Called also {heavy oil of wine}
(distinguished from oil of wine, or [oe]nanthic ether).
{Ethereal salt} (Chem.), a salt of some organic radical as a
base; an ester.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
ethereal
adj 1: characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; as
impalpable or intangible as air; "figures light and
aeriform come unlooked for and melt away"- Thomas
Carlyle; "aerial fancies"; "an airy apparition";
"physical rather than ethereal forms" [syn: {aeriform},
{aerial}, {airy}, {aery}]
2: (chemistry) of or containing or dissolved in ether;
"ethereal solution"
3: of heaven or the spirit; "celestial peace"; "ethereal
melodies"; "the supernal happiness of a quiet death" [syn:
{celestial}, {supernal}]
4: characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy; "this
smallest and most ethereal of birds"; "gossamer shading
through his playing" [syn: {gossamer}]
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