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Synonyms for sylph

Grammar : Noun
Spell : silf
Phonetic Transcription : sɪlf

Top 10 synonyms for sylph
Other synonyms for the word sylph

Définition of sylph

Origin :
  • 1650s, from Modern Latin sylphes (plural), coined 16c. by Paracelsus (1493-1541), originally referring to any race of spirits inhabiting the air, described as being mortal but lacking a soul. Paracelsus' word seems to be an arbitrary coinage, but perhaps it holds a suggestion of Latin sylva and Greek nymph. The meaning "slender, graceful girl" first recorded 1838, on the notion of "light, airy movements." Silphid (1670s) are the younger or smaller variety, from French sylphide (1670s).
  • As in nymph : noun female nature spirit
  • As in fairy : noun supernatural being
Example sentences :
  • Meg is always moaning and groaning because she isn't a sylph!
  • Extract from : « Stories of a Western Town » by Octave Thanet
  • He could not picture her as a sylph of one hundred and fifty pounds.
  • Extract from : « Philo Gubb Correspondence-School Detective » by Ellis Parker Butler
  • Her style was "sylph," and so she was gauzy and floating in all her drapery.
  • Extract from : « Confessions Of Con Cregan » by Charles James Lever
  • The Sylph rose and sank to the first long roll of the open sea.
  • Extract from : « The Best Short Stories of 1920 » by Various
  • The Sylph came about, with sails trembling, and lost headway.
  • Extract from : « The Best Short Stories of 1920 » by Various
  • The Zephyr was rapidly approaching the Sylph, as the sailboat was called.
  • Extract from : « The Boat Club » by Oliver Optic
  • Her steps were as light as a sylph's, nothing rattled in the sick-room as she moved about it.
  • Extract from : « Red Rose and Tiger Lily » by L. T. Meade
  • On this the Sylph opened her fire, and soon sent them to the right about.
  • Extract from : « Will Weatherhelm » by W.H.G. Kingston
  • She has the figure and motions of a sylph, the face of an angel, the eye of love itself.
  • Extract from : « A Laodicean » by Thomas Hardy
  • But his first desire was to ascertain what had become of the Sylph.
  • Extract from : « All Adrift » by Oliver Optic
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019