halcyon
UK/ˈhælsi.ən/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
obsolete/ˈhælʃən/
halcyon noun: a kingfisher whose nesting by the sea was said, in classical mythology, to cause the Gods to restrain the wind and waves.
Noun
halcyon (plural halcyons)
- A kingfisher whose nesting by the sea was said, in classical mythology, to cause the Gods to restrain the wind and waves.
- the Halcyon bird, or as some call it Alcedo or Kings-fisher, exceeds all mens conceit. […] Gods decree hath been, that all the watrie wildernesse should be quiet and made calme, without raine, wind, or tempest, during the time the Halcyon sitteth and bringeth forth her young-ones […]1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
- Amidſt our Arms as quiet you ſhall be / As Halcyons Brooding on a Winter Sea.1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act IV...
- The dead body of such a bird, said in Tudor times to act as a weather vane when hung from a beam.
- But novv hovv ſtands the vvind? / Into vvhat corner peeres my Halcions bill?c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published...
- Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks / With every gale and vary of their masterc. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- A tropical kingfisher of the genus Halcyon, such as the sacred kingfisher (Halcyon sancta) of Australia.
Adjective
halcyon (comparative more halcyon, superlative most halcyon)
- Pertaining to the halcyon or kingfisher.
- Renege; affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks / With every gale and vary of their masters,c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Calm, undisturbed, peaceful, serene.
- Reflections of this kind may have trifling weight with men who hope to see realized in America the halcyon scenes of the poetic or fabulous age.1787, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers No. 30
- Deep, halcyon repose.1842, Thomas De Quincey, Cicero
halcyon meaning in Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
halcyon in Urdu
- پرسکون, نیل کنٹھ, رام چڑیا
halcyon in Bengali
- শান্ত, সুখী, স্বর্ণযুগীয়
halcyon in Malayalam
- idyllic, happy, golden
- പ്രസന്നം, സുഖമായ, സന്തുഷ്ടം, തൃപ്തം, കുതൂഹല, ആഹ്ലാദകരമായ
Examples of halcyon in a sentence
- And, by the way, during those halcyon days (the halcyon was there, too, chattering above every creek, as he is all over the world) we fought another battle.c. 1880, Ambrose Bierce, On a Mountain:
- I had wander’d in rapture beneath them, and bask’d in the Halcyon clime.1919, H.P. Lovecraft, The City:
Synonyms of halcyon
11 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of halcyon
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | halcyons |
| alternative form | alcyon |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more halcyon |
| superlative | most halcyon |
Origin of halcyon
Inherited from Middle English Alceoun, from Latin halcyōn, alcyōn (“kingfisher”), from Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn).
Words formed from halcyon
Phrases with halcyon
Questions about halcyon
- What does halcyon mean?
- Halcyon means a kingfisher whose nesting by the sea was said, in classical mythology, to cause the Gods to restrain the wind and waves.
- What is halcyon in Urdu?
- Halcyon in Urdu is پرسکون, نیل کنٹھ, رام چڑیا. See Halcyon meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use halcyon in a sentence?
- And, by the way, during those halcyon days (the halcyon was there, too, chattering above every creek, as he is all over the world) we fought another battle.
- What part of speech is halcyon?
- Halcyon can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce halcyon?
- Halcyon is pronounced /ˈhælsi.ən/ (UK).
- What is the plural of halcyon?
- The plural of halcyon is halcyons.
Words near halcyon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: halcyon (page history and authors); halcyon (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); halcyon (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); halcyon (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-halcyon.ogg.
Cite this entry: “halcyon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/halcyon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.