different between sylph vs sylphide

English

Etymology

First attested in 1657. From New Latin sylphes, coined by Paracelsus in the 16th century. The coinage may derive from Latin sylvestris (“of the woods”) and nympha (“nymph”). Related to sylvan.

More at Wikipedia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?lf/
• Rhymes: -?lf

Noun

sylph (plural sylphs)

1. (mythology) An invisible being of the air.

   Synonym: sylphid

2. The elemental being of air, usually female.
3. (by extension) A slender woman or girl, usually graceful and sometimes with the implication of sublime station over everyday people.
   • 1811, Mary Bruton, Self-Control (novel):

4. (ornithology) Any of the mainly dark green and blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.

Related terms

• sylvan (see for more terms)
• savage
• Silvanus

Translations

Further reading

• sylph on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, ?ISBN

English

Noun

sylphide (plural sylphides)

1. A young sylph.

Portuguese

Noun

sylphide f (plural sylphides)

1. Obsolete spelling of sílfide (used in Portugal until September 1911 and died out in Brazil during the 1920s).