air

English

/ˈɛə/, /ˈɛəɹ/

noun
Definitions
  • (uncountable) The substance constituting earth's atmosphere, particularly:
  • (usually) The apparently open space above the ground which this substance fills, (historical) formerly thought to be limited by the firmament but (meteorology) now considered to be surrounded by the near vacuum of outer space.
  • A breeze; a gentle wind.
  • A feeling or sense.
  • A sense of poise, graciousness, or quality.
  • (usually) Pretension; snobbishness; pretence that one is better than others.
  • (music) A song, especially a solo; an aria.
  • (informal) Nothing; absence of anything.
  • (countable) An air conditioner or the processed air it produces.
  • (obsolete) Any specific gas.
  • (snowboarding) A jump in which one becomes airborne.
  • A television or radio signal.
  • (uncountable) Publicity.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English air, eir (gas, atmosphere) derived from aeir, eyer derived from Old French aire, eir derived from Latin āēr (air) derived from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (air, wind, atmosphere, mist) root from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (blow).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*h₂weh₁-

Gloss

blow

Concept
Semantic Field

Motion

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Emoji
🌪️ 🌬️ 🍃 🌬️

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms