air
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English air, eir (“gas, atmosphere”), from Anglo-Norman aeir, eyer, Old French aire, eir, from Latin āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr, “wind, atmosphere”). Displaced native Middle English luft, lift (“air”) (from Old English lyft (“air, atmosphere”)), Middle English loft (“air, upper region”) (from Old Norse lopt (“air, sky, loft”)). More at lift, loft.
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɛə/, /ˈɛː/
Audio (UK) (file)
- (General American) enPR: âr, IPA(key): /ˈɛəɹ/, /ˈɛɹ/
Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
- Homophones: Ayr, ere, heir, are (unit of measurement); err (one pronunciation)
NounEdit
air (countable and uncountable, plural airs)
- (uncountable, meteorology) The substance constituting earth's atmosphere, particularly:
- I'm going outside to get some air.
- (historical, philosophy, alchemy) understood as one of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
- (historical, medicine) understood as a particular local substance with supposed effects on human health.
- 1991 May 12, "Kidnapped!" Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5:
- Jeeves: Foreign travel often liberates emotions best kept in check, sir. The air of North America is notoriously stimulating in this regard, as witness the regrettable behavior of its inhabitants in 1776.
B. Wooster: Hm? What happened in 1776, Jeeves?
Jeeves: I prefer not to dwell on it, if it's convenient to you, sir.
- Jeeves: Foreign travel often liberates emotions best kept in check, sir. The air of North America is notoriously stimulating in this regard, as witness the regrettable behavior of its inhabitants in 1776.
- There was a tension in the air which made me suspect an approaching storm.
- 1991 May 12, "Kidnapped!" Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5:
- (physics) understood as a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and various trace gases.
- (usually with the) The apparently open space above the ground which this substance fills, (historical) formerly thought to be limited by the firmament but (meteorology) now considered surrounded by the near vacuum of outer space.
- The flock of birds took to the air.
- A breeze; a gentle wind.
- A feeling or sense.
- to give it an air of artistry and sophistication
- November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk
- Smalling’s quick one-two of yellow cards towards the end of the first half had left an air of inevitability about what would follow and, if anything, it was probably a surprise that City restricted themselves to Sergio Agüero’s goal bearing in mind another of United’s defenders, Marcos Rojo, was taken off on a stretcher early in the second half with a dislocated shoulder.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,
- The girl stooped to pluck a rose, and as she bent over it, her profile was clearly outlined. She held the flower to her face with a long-drawn inhalation, then went up the steps, crossed the piazza, opened the door without knocking, and entered the house with the air of one thoroughly at home.
- A sense of poise, graciousness, or quality.
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, Volume I, Chapter 4:
- "He is very plain, undoubtedly--remarkably plain:--but that is nothing compared with his entire want of gentility. I had no right to expect much, and I did not expect much; but I had no idea that he could be so very clownish, so totally without air. I had imagined him, I confess, a degree or two nearer gentility."
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, Volume I, Chapter 4:
- (usually in the plural) Pretension; snobbishness; pretence that one is better than others.
- putting on airs
- 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest[1]:
- He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.
- (music) A song, especially a solo; an aria.
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 18:
- "If I," said Mr. Collins, "were so fortunate as to be able to sing, I should have great pleasure, I am sure, in obliging the company with an air; for I consider music as a very innocent diversion, and perfectly compatible with the profession of a clergyman […] "
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 18:
- (informal) Nothing; absence of anything.
- An air conditioner or the processed air it produces. Can be a mass noun or a count noun depending on context; similar to hair.
- Could you turn on the air?
- Hey, did you mean to leave the airs on all week while you were on vacation?
- (obsolete, chemistry) Any specific gas.
- (snowboarding, skateboarding, motor sports) A jump in which one becomes airborne.
- A television or radio signal.
- 1996, Thomas Streeter, Selling the Air, →ISBN:
- Ernst gave a list of political activists who had been denied access to the air by private broadcasters, and pointed out that "Secretary Hoover's signature in New York sells for $150,000 to $200,000," thus limiting access to the air on the part of labor unions and other underrepresented groups.
- 2001, Dana Stabenow, The Singing of the Dead, →ISBN, page 17:
- Coming to you live once a month, or whenever I feel like broadcasting a little pirate air.
SynonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from air
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
historical: one of the basic elements
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mixture of gases making up the atmosphere of the Earth
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the apparently open space above the ground
feeling or sense
sense of poise, graciousness, quality
pretension, snobbishness
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music: a song, an aria
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informal: absence of anything
air conditioner or the processed air it produces
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obsolete: any specific gas
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snowboarding, skateboarding: jump in which one becomes airborne
VerbEdit
air (third-person singular simple present airs, present participle airing, simple past and past participle aired)
- To bring (something) into contact with the air, so as to freshen or dry it.
- To let fresh air into a room or a building, to ventilate.
- It's getting quite stuffy in this room: let's open the windows and air it.
- To discuss varying viewpoints on a given topic.
- 1917, National Geographic, v.31, March 1917:
- Thus, in spite of all opposition, the rural and urban assemblies retained the germ of local government, and in spite of the dual control, as the result of which much of their influence was nullified, they did have a certain value in airing abuses and suggesting improvements.
- 1917, National Geographic, v.31, March 1917:
- To broadcast, as with a television show.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to bring into contact with the air
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to ventilate
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to discuss varying viewpoints
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to broadcast
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AnagramsEdit
CornishEdit
DutchEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
- IPA(key): /ɛʁ/
audio (file) - Homophones: aire, airent, aires, airs, ère, ères, erre, errent, erres, ers, haire, haires, hère, hères
NounEdit
air m (plural airs)
- air (gases of the atmosphere)
- tune, aria
- appearance
- air (pretension)
Related termsEdit
- avoir l'air (“to seem”)
Further readingEdit
- “air” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
AnagramsEdit
GothicEdit
IndonesianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Malay air, from Proto-Malayic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *wair, from Proto-Sunda-Sulawesi *wair, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
air
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
- water (mineral water)
- water (one of the four elements in alchemy)
- water (one of the five basic elements in some other theories)
Derived termsEdit
IrishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old Irish airid (“ploughs, tills”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
air (present analytic aireann, future analytic airfidh, verbal noun ar, past participle airthe)
ConjugationEdit
First Conjugation (A)
| singular | plural | relative | autonomous | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||||
| indicative | present | airim | aireann tú; airir† |
aireann sé, sí | airimid | aireann sibh | aireann siad; airid† |
a aireann; a aireas / a n-aireann*; a n-aireas* |
airtear |
| past | d'air mé; d'aireas / air mé‡; aireas‡ |
d'air tú; d'airis / air tú; airis‡ |
d'air sé, sí / air sé, sí‡ |
d'aireamar; Lua error: not enough memory muid / Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory muid‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory sibh; Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory sibh; Lua error: not enough memory‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory siad; Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory siad; Lua error: not enough memory‡ |
a Lua error: not enough memory / ar Lua error: not enough memory* |
Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory† | |
| past habitual | Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory sé, sí / Lua error: not enough memory sé, sí‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory muid / Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory muid‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory sibh / Lua error: not enough memory sibh‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory siad / Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory siad‡ |
a Lua error: not enough memory / ar Lua error: not enough memory* |
Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory‡ | |
| future | Lua error: not enough memory mé; Lua error: not enough memory |
Lua error: not enough memory tú; Lua error: not enough memory† |
Lua error: not enough memory sé, sí | Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory muid |
Lua error: not enough memory sibh | Lua error: not enough memory siad; Lua error: not enough memory† |
a Lua error: not enough memory; a Lua error: not enough memory / a Lua error: not enough memory*; a Lua error: not enough memory* |
Lua error: not enough memory | |
| conditional | Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory sé, sí / Lua error: not enough memory sé, sí‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory muid / Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory muid‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory sibh / Lua error: not enough memory sibh‡ |
Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory siad / Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory siad‡ |
a Lua error: not enough memory / ar Lua error: not enough memory* |
Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory‡ | |
| subjunctive | present | go Lua error: not enough memory mé; go Lua error: not enough memory† |
go Lua error: not enough memory tú; go Lua error: not enough memory† |
go Lua error: not enough memory sé, sí | go Lua error: not enough memory; go Lua error: not enough memory muid |
go Lua error: not enough memory sibh | go Lua error: not enough memory siad; go Lua error: not enough memory† |
— | go Lua error: not enough memory |
| past | dá Lua error: not enough memory | dá Lua error: not enough memory | dá Lua error: not enough memory sé, sí | dá Lua error: not enough memory; dá Lua error: not enough memory muid |
dá Lua error: not enough memory sibh | dá Lua error: not enough memory; dá Lua error: not enough memory siad |
— | dá Lua error: not enough memory | |
| imperative | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory sé, sí | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory; Lua error: not enough memory† |
Lua error: not enough memory | — | Lua error: not enough memory | |
| verbal noun | Lua error: not enough memory | ||||||||
| past participle | Lua error: not enough memory | ||||||||
* Indirect relative
† Archaic or dialect form
‡Dependent form
Lua error: not enough memory
NounEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory
Etymology 2Edit
PronunciationEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory
PronounEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory Lua error: not enough memory
MutationEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
ReferencesEdit
- "air" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
- “3 airid” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
Lua error: not enough memory
KeinEdit
PronunciationEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory
NounEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
Further readingEdit
LudianEdit
MalayEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
FWOTD – 26 October 2013[[Category:Former foreign words of the day in Lua error: not enough memory]]
Alternative formsEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory
EtymologyEdit
From Lua error: not enough memory, from Lua error: not enough memory, from Lua error: not enough memory, from Lua error: not enough memory, from Lua error: not enough memory.
PronunciationEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory
NounEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
- water Lua error: not enough memory
- 2012, Faridah Abdul Rashid, Research on the Early Malay Doctors : 1900-1957 : Malaya and Singapore [2]
- loji rawatan air
- water treatment plant
- loji rawatan air
- 2012, Faridah Abdul Rashid, Research on the Early Malay Doctors : 1900-1957 : Malaya and Singapore [2]
Derived termsEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory
DescendantsEdit
- Indonesian: Lua error: not enough memory
ReferencesEdit
- Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary
NormanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Lua error: not enough memory.
NounEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory (mixture of gases that make up the earth's atmosphere)
Related termsEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory, Lua error: not enough memory
Lua error: not enough memory
Old FrenchEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory
EtymologyEdit
From Lua error: not enough memory.
NounEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory (mixture of gases that make up the earth's atmosphere)
PohnpeianEdit
PronunciationEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory
VerbEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory to strip off, as when stripping insulation off a wire
- Lua error: not enough memory to wipe off a ropelike object by drawing it through one's hand or fingers
- Lua error: not enough memory
Scottish GaelicEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Lua error: not enough memory (compare Irish Lua error: not enough memory), from Lua error: not enough memory (compare Welsh Lua error: not enough memory), from Lua error: not enough memory (compare Latin Lua error: not enough memory, Ancient Greek Lua error: not enough memory, Old English Lua error: not enough memory).
PronunciationEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory
PrepositionEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
- on, upon
- Lua error: not enough memory
- of, concerning
- Lua error: not enough memory
- for, on account of
- Lua error: not enough memory
- by
- Lua error: not enough memory
- for the sake of - air son - see below, and more under Lua error: not enough memory.
Usage notesEdit
- Air combines with personal pronouns to form prepositional pronouns. See Derived forms below. Specifically for air the third-person singular masculine pronoun is identical to the uninflected preposition, hence air = on or on him.
- The word air and its derivates are also used in many idioms:
- Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory
- A grammaticalised unit meaning Lua error: not enough memory is formed by a prepositional phrase combining the preposition Lua error: not enough memory / Lua error: not enough memory with a nominal or pronominal argument and the noun Lua error: not enough memory. (These structures are sometimes called ‘compound prepositions’.)
Derived termsEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
- The following prepositional pronouns:
| Person | Number | Prepositional pronoun | Prepositional pronoun (emphatic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | 1st | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory |
| 2nd | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory | |
| 3rd Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory | |
| 3rd Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory | |
| Plural | 1st | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory |
| 2nd | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory | |
| 3rd | Lua error: not enough memory | Lua error: not enough memory |
PronounEdit
Lua error: not enough memory
- Lua error: not enough memory Lua error: not enough memory
See alsoEdit
- Lua error: not enough memory; also sometimes termed ‘conjugated prepositions’.
ReferencesEdit
- Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBNLua error: not enough memory
- A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language (John Grant, Edinburgh, 1925, Complied by Malcolm MacLennan)