ethers

Noun

ether (countable and uncountable, plural ethers)

1. (broadly, literary, poetic) The medium breathed by human beings; the air.
   • On Wings the Birds through Æther glide, / And Fiſhes cut with Fins the Tide.1746 February 28, Criticus [pseudonym], “Dialogue on Women”, in [Mark Akenside], editor, The Museum: Or, The Literary and Historical Register, volume II, number XXV, London: Printed for R[obert]...
2. (broadly, literary, poetic) The sky, the heavens; the void, nothingness.
   • Take a snapshot of the conflicts around the world: Sunnis vs. Shiites, Israelis vs. Palestinians, Serbs vs. Kosovars, Indians vs. Pakistanis. They seem to be driven by religious hatred. It’s enough to make you wonder if the animosity would melt away if all religions were suddenly, somehow, to...2008 July 21, Steve Paulson, “Religion is Poetry”, in Salon, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2017
3. (historical, uncountable) Often as aether and more fully as luminiferous aether: The hypothetical substance permeating space, functioning as a medium for electromagnetic waves to propagate through, and which does not exert resistance to the movement of matter; its existence is incompatible with Einstein's theory of relativity; famously found to be undetectable by the 1887 Michelson–Morley experiment.
   • I ſuppose this æther pervades all groſs bodies, but yet ſo as to ſtand rarer in their pores than in free ſpaces, and ſo much the rarer, as their pores are leſs. And this I ſuppose (with others) to be the cauſe, why light incident on thoſe bodies is refracted towards the perpendicular; […] I ſuppose...1679 February 28, Thomas Birch, quoting Isaac Newton, “The Life of the Honourable Robert Boyle. [Letter from Isaac Newton to Robert Boyle.]”, in Robert Boyle, The Works of the Honourable Robert...
4. (colloquial, uncountable) The atmosphere or space as a medium for broadcasting radio and television signals; also, a notional space through which Internet and other digital communications take place; cyberspace.
   • H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness
     He held some friendly chat with Pabodie over the ether, and repeated his praise of the really marvelous drills that had helped him make his discovery.
5. (colloquial, uncountable) A particular quality created by or surrounding an object, person, or place; an atmosphere, an aura.
   • The luminous æther of his life was not obſcured by any ſhade dark enough to be denominated a defect.1793, “[Characters.] An Account of the Late Earl of Mansfield.”, in The Annual Register, or A View of the History, Politics, and Literature, volume XXXV, London: Printed, by assignment from the...
6. (uncountable) Diethyl ether (C₄H₁₀O), an organic compound with a sweet odour used in the past as an anaesthetic.
   • But the moſt valuable Qualities of the ÆTHER are it's medicinal ones; it having been found by repeated Experience to be an excellent Remedy in moſt nervous Diſeaſes; particularly in Fits of all ſorts, whether Epileptic, Convulſive, Hyſteric, Hypochondriac, or Paralytic: […]1759, M[atthew] Turner, An Account of the Extraordinary Medicinal Fluid, Called Æther, [Liverpool]: Printed by John Sadler, →OCLC, page 5

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