sylph
pronunciation
How to pronounce sylph in British English:
UK [sɪlf]
How to pronounce sylph in American English:
US [ sɪlf]
-
- Noun:
- a slender graceful young woman
- an elemental being believed to inhabit the air
Word Origin
- sylph (n.)
- 1650s, "air-spirit," from Modern Latin sylphes (plural), coined 16c. by Paracelsus (1493-1541), originally referring to any race of spirits inhabiting the air, described as being mortal but lacking a soul. Paracelsus' word seems to be an arbitrary coinage, but perhaps it holds a suggestion of Latin silva and Greek nymph, or Greek silphe "a kind of beetle," but French etymologists propose a Gaulish origin. The Century Dictionary comments that, "to occultists and quacks like Paracelsus words spelled with -y- look more Greek and convincing." The meaning "graceful girl" first recorded 1838, on the notion of "slender figure and light, airy movement" [OED].
Example
- 1. The dancer was a graceful , elegant sylph upon the stage .
- 2. You compare her with your english women who wolf down from three to five meat meals a day ; and naturally you find her a sylph .
- 3. You compare her with your english --- women who wolf down from three to five meat meals a day ; and naturally you find her a sylph .
- 4. You compare her with your english-women who wolf down from three to five meals a day ; and naturally you find her a sylph .
- 5. You compare her with your english women who wolf down three to five meat meals a day ; naturally , you find her a sylph .