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Webster 1913 Edition


Sylph

Sylph

,
Noun.
[F.
sylphe
, m., fr. Gr. [GREEK] a kind of grub, beetle, or moth; – so called by Paracelsus.]
1.
An imaginary being inhabiting the air; a fairy.
2.
Fig.: A slender, graceful woman.
3.
(Zool.)
Any one of several species of very brilliant South American humming birds, having a very long and deeply-forked tail;
as, the blue-tailed
sylph
(
Cynanthus cyanurus
)
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Sylph

SYLPH

,
Noun.
[Gr. a moth, a beetle.] An imaginary being inhabiting the air.

Definition 2024


sylph

sylph

English

Noun

sylph (plural sylphs)

  1. (mythology) An invisible being of the air
  2. The elemental being of air, usually female.
  3. A slender woman or girl, usually graceful and sometimes with the implication of sublime station over everyday people.
    • 1811, Mary Bruton, Self-Control (novel):
      Her heart fluttered with expectation—her step was buoyant with hope, and she sprung into the carriage with the lightness of a sylph.
  4. Any of the mainly dark green and blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.

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