Ethery

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Resembling ether, the light and airy substance once thought to fill the upper heavens
2. Having the light, airy, insubstantial quality associated with the upper reaches of the sky
3. Suggesting the delicate, rarefied and otherworldly lightness of the ether

Etymology: "Ethery" is simply "ether" with the suffix "-y" attached, meaning "resembling or containing ether." The base word "ether" traces back through Latin "aether" and Greek "aithēr," which referred to the bright, pure upper air that the Greeks believed the gods breathed, as opposed to the murkier lower atmosphere. The adjective grew from the chemical sense of ether, the volatile liquid first prepared in the early modern period, which was so light and evaporative that it seemed to belong to the rarefied heavens. Calling something "ethery" therefore suggests a quality that is insubstantial, airy, or otherwise delicate and hard to pin down, rather than any literal connection to the chemical itself.

Synonyms: ethereal, airy, insubstantial, rarefied, delicate

Antonyms: heavy, dense, material, substantial, gross