AETHER • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Aether

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noun

AEther n. See Ether.

Ether n. (Written also aether)

1.

(Physics) 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.

2.

Supposed matter above the air; the air itself.

3.

(Chem.)

(a)

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 anaesthetic. Commonly called ethyl ether to distinguish it from other ethers, and also ethyl oxide.

(b)

Any similar compound in which an oxygen atom is bound to two different carbon atoms, each of which is part of an organic radical; as, amyl ether; valeric ether; methyl ethyl ether. The general formular for an ether is ROR´, in which R and R´ are organic radicals which may be of similar or different structure. If R and R´ are different parts of the same organic radical, the structure forms a cyclic ether.

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.

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Etymology of 'Aether'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Aether" Quotes from Famous Books

... anhaltenden Krampf. Dann soll das Leben des Tones bis auf seinen letzten Blutstropfen aufgesogen werden; dann halte ich die Wellen meines Meeres an, und lasse in seinen Abgrund blicken; oder hemme ich den Zug der Wolken, zertheile die wirren Nebelstreifen, und lasse einmal in den reinen blauen Aether, in das strahlende Auge der Sonne schauen. Hierfur setze ich Fermaten, d. h. plotzlich eintretende lang auszuhaltende Noten in meine Allegro's. Und nun beachte du, welche ganz bestimmte thematische Absicht ich mit diesem ausgehaltenen Es nach drei sturmisch kurzen Noten hatte, und was ich mit ...

— On Conducting (Ueber das Dirigiren): - A Treatise on Style in the Execution of Classical Music • Richard Wagner (translated by Edward Dannreuther)

... committed for trial at the next criminal session; and fell at first into a semi-mechanical existence. But slowly the twin stars of memory and hope rose out of the dark, while conscious integrity began to clear the moral aether. He tried in vain to cherish remorse, but Elliot's treachery overbore ...

— St George's Cross • H. G. Keene

... first left ocean to fare over mainland at Lektos, Where underneath of their feet waved loftiest growths of the woodland. There hung Hypnos fast, ere the vision of Zeus was observant, Mounted upon a tall pine-tree, tallest of pines that on Ida Lustily spring off soil for the shoot up aloft into aether. There did he sit well-cloaked by the wide-branched pine for concealment, That loud bird, in his form like, that perched high up in the mountains, Chalkis is named by the Gods, but of mortals ...

— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... mounted the floor of the chariot, And the Spirit drew together His reins, his strong grip tight'ning, And his thong flashed out like a lightning, And the horses rushed up to aether. ...

— A Legend of Old Persia and Other Poems • A. B. S. Tennyson

... His sensible preface to Earth Triumphant calls attention to certain similarities between his style in verse-narrative and that of John Masefield. But he is not a copier, and his work is his own. Some poets are on the earth; some are in the air; some, like Shelley, are in the aether. Conrad Aiken is firmly, gladly on the earth. He believes that our only paradise is ...

— The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth Century • William Lyon Phelps

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