ETYM Old Eng. air, eir, French air, Latin aër, from Greek aer, air, mist, for aeier, from root ai to blow, breathe. Related to Aëry, Debonair, Malaria, Wind.
(Homonyms: err, heir).
1. A mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing.
2. The atmosphere; wind.
3. The region above the ground.
4. A distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing: SYN. aura, atmosphere.
5. A distinctive manner.
6. Medium for radio and television broadcasting; SYN. airwave.
7. (Archaic) The gaseous substance once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe.
See ayre.
ETYM Old Eng. manere, French maničre, from Old Fren. manier, adj, manual, skillful, handy, from (assumed) Late Lat. manarius, for Latin manuarius belonging to the hand, from manus the hand. Related to Manual.
(Homonym: manor).
1. A kind.
2. A manner of performance; SYN. mode, style, way, fashion.
3. A way of acting or behaving; SYN. personal manner.
ETYM Old Eng. melodie, French mélodie, Latin melodia, from Greek, a singing, choral song, from melos song, tune + aiedein to sing. Related to Ode.
The perception of pleasant arrangements of musical notes; SYN. tonal pattern.
In music, a distinctive sequence of notes sounded consecutively within an orderly pitch structure such as a scale or a mode. A melody may be a tune in its own right, or it may form a theme running through a longer piece of music.
The expressive component of melody is related to an intuitive balance between the expression of movement, through change of pitch, and an expectation that certain constant features should emerge. The underlying constant features are the scale or mode; in Western music these are enhanced by key and harmony.
ETYM A variant of tone.
A succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; SYN. melody, air, strain, melodic line, line, melodic phrase.
ETYM Old Eng. wey, way, as. weg.
(Homonym: weigh, whey).
1. A course of conduct; SYN. path, way of life.
2. A general category of things; used in the expression.
3. A journey or passage.
4. A portion of something divided into shares.
5. Any road or path affording passage from one place to another.
6. Doing as one pleases or chooses.
7. The condition of things generally; or.
8. The property of distance in general; (colloquial); SYN. ways.
ETYM Old Eng. sauge, French sauge, Latin salvia, from salvus saved, in allusion to its reputed healing virtues. Related to Safe.
1. Any of various plants of the genus Salvia; cosmopolitan; SYN. salvia.
2. Aromatic fresh or dried gray-green leaves used widely as seasoning for meats and fowl and game etc.
Perennial herb Salvia officinalis with gray-green aromatic leaves used for flavoring. It grows up to 50 cm/20 in high and has bluish lilac or pink flowers.
1. A man of unusual learning, judgment, or insight; sage
2. A man versed in esoteric lore (as of magic or astrology); especially; magus
ETYM Latin sapiens, -entis, p. pr. of sapere to taste, to have sense, to know. Related to Sage.
Wise; sage; discerning.
Wise; pretending to be wise.
ETYM Old Eng. wise, AS. wîse.
Having or prompted by wisdom or discernment.
Christian Felix, 1726, 1804, dt. Schriftst.; Schöpfer des dt. Rokoko-Singspiels.
ETYM AS. hwîtness.
1. The quality or state of being white; white color, or freedom from darkness or obscurity on the surface.
2. Want of a sanguineous tinge; paleness; as from terror, grief, etc.
3. Freedom from stain or blemish; purity; cleanness.
4. Nakedness.
Christian, 1642, 1708, dt. spätbarocker Schriftst. (Schuldramen u. satir. Romane); Wegbereiter der Aufklärung.