different between enigmatic vs ethereal

English

Alternative forms

• ænigmatic (archaic)
• ænigmatick (obsolete)
• enigmatick (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??n???mæt?k/

Adjective

enigmatic (comparative more enigmatic, superlative most enigmatic)

1. Pertaining to an enigma.
2. Mysterious.

   • Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.

3. Defying description.
4. (variant) Enigmatical.

Synonyms

• (mysterious): See also Thesaurus:mysterious
• (defying description): See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

Translations

Romanian

Etymology

French énigmatique

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [eni??matik]

Adjective

enigmatic m or n (feminine singular enigmatic?, masculine plural enigmatici, feminine and neuter plural enigmatice)

1. enigmatic

Declension

Synonyms

• misterios

Related terms

• enigm?

English

Alternative forms

• etherial
• aethereal
• aetherial
• æthereal
• æthereall (obsolete)
• ætherial
• ætheriall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin aetherius (“of or pertaining to the ether, the sky, or the air or upper air; ethereal”), from Ancient Greek ???????? (aithérios, “of or pertaining to the upper air; ethereal”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?????.?i.?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?????.i.?l/, /?????.i.?l/

Adjective

ethereal (comparative more ethereal, superlative most ethereal)

1. Pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere; celestial; otherworldly.
   • 1862: Thoreau, Walking.

     I trust that we shall be more imaginative, that our thoughts will be clearer, fresher, and more ethereal, as our sky, […]

2. Consisting of ether; hence, exceedingly light or airy; tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy, as form, manner, thought, etc.
3. Delicate, light and airy.
4. (chemistry) To do with ether.

   an ethereal solution

Synonyms

• (pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air): aereous, mystical, transcendental; See also Thesaurus:cosmic
• (consisting of ether): ethereous; See also Thesaurus:gaseous, Thesaurus:insubstantial, or Thesaurus:subtle
• (delicate, light and airy): gossamer; See also Thesaurus:fragile
• (to do with ether): ethereous, etheric, etherical

Derived terms

Translations

References

• ethereal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.