etra

Italian

Etymology

From Latin aethra, from Ancient Greek αἴθρα (aíthra), akin to αἰθήρ (aithḗr, “air; ether”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.tra/
• Rhymes: -ɛtra
• Hyphenation: è‧tra

Noun

etra m (plural etri) (poetic)

1. air

   Synonyms: (poetic) aere, aria, (literary, poetic) aura, (poetic) etere

   • 1835, Giacomo Leopardi with Alessandro Donati, “Ultimo canto di Saffo [Sappho's Last Song]”, in Canti‎^[1], Bari: Einaudi, published 1917, page 40, lines 8–11:

     Noi l’insueto allor gaudio ravviva,
     quando per l’etra liquido si volve
     e per li campi trepidanti il flutto
     polveroso de’ Noti […]

     For us an unaccustomed joy revives only when the dust-filled flow of the south-wind blows through the liquid air and over the quivering fields

2. sky

   Synonyms: cielo, (literary) empireo, (poetic) etere, firmamento

   • 1813, Ugo Foscolo, “Pallade [Pallas]”, in Inno alle grazie‎^[2], Florence, published 1848, page 68:

     Non men dell’altre gareggiante, all’etra
     Flora vola, e d’olezzi Iride allegra
     Passando, e toglie, a varïar quel peplo,
     I color rugiadosi. […]

     Competing no less than the others, Flora flies to the sky, and Iris, joyful in scents, passes by and takes out, to make that peplos varied, the dewy colors.

Related terms

• etere

Further reading

• etra in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• arte, atre, erta, rate, retà, tare, trae