etheostomoid (etheostomoid)

and n. I. a. Pertaining to or having the characters of the Etheostomoidæ or Eth eos to mid a. II. n. A fish of the family Etheostomoida or Eth eos to mid a. L. Aga iz. Etheostomoidæ (e-the-os-to-moidē), n. pl . [NL.) Same as Eth eos to mid a or Eth eos to min a . L. Aga iz . ether1 (ē'ther), n. [Also æther ; = F. éther = Pr. ether = Sp. eter = Pg. ether = It. ctere = D. ether = G. äther = Dan. æther = Sw. eter , ather , αιθήρ , the upper, purer air (opposed to ἀήρ , the lower air), hence heaven, the abode of the gods; also the blue sky (cf. αίθρα , αίθρη, the clear sky, fair weather), αἴθειν , kindle, burn, glow: see estivel, estival .] 1. The upper air; the blue heavens. It was supposed by Aris totle to extend from the fixed stars down to the moon. There fields of light and liquid ether flow, Purg'd from the pond'rous dregs of earth below. Dryden . etherification or heaven; heavenly; celestial; spiritual: as, ethereal space; ethereal regions. Nor would I, as thou dost ambitiously aspire To thrust thy forked top into th' etherial fire. Drayton, Polyolbion, vii. Go, heavenly guest, ethereal me enger, Sent from whose Sovran Goodne I adore! Milton, P. L., viii. 646. Those æthe real fires shall then be scattered and dispersed throughout the Universe, so that the Earth and all the works that are therein shall be turned into one funeral Pile. Stilling fleet , Sermons, L. xi. 2. Figuratively, having the characteristics of ether or air; light, intangible, etc. A lady...with.. an ethereal lightne that made you look at her beautifully slippered feet, to see whether she trod on the dust or floated in the air. Hawthorne , Seven Gables, iii. 3. Existing in the air; resembling air; looking blue like the sky; aërial: as, " ethereal mountains," Thomson.-4. In physics, of, pertaining to, or having the constitution of ether (sense 2). It has been supposed for a long time that light consists of waves transmitted through an extremely thin ethereal jelly that pervades all space. as to be diffused throughout all space (as among the molecules of which solid bodies are composed), and to be the medium of the transmi ion of light and heat. See the extract. The phenomena of Light are best explained as those of undulations; but undulations, even in the most extensive use of the term, as signifying any periodic motion or cond i, tion whose periodicity laws wave motion, must be propagated through some medium. Heat, while pa ing through space, presents exactly the same undulatory character, and requires a medium for its propagation. Electrical attraction and repulsion are explained in far the most satisfactory way by considering them as due to local stre es in such a medium. Current electricity seems due to a throb or series of throbs in such a medium, when released from stre . Magnetic phenomena seem due to local whirlpools, set up in such a medium. We are led to infer, therefore, that there is such a medium, which we call the Luminiferous Ether, or simply the Ether; that it can convey energy; that it can present it at any instant, partly in the form of kinetic, partly in that of potential energy; that it is therefore capable of displacement and of tension; and that it must have rigidity and elasticity. Calculation leads us to infer that its density is (Clerk Maxwell) 18888888888 that of water, or equal to our atmosphere at a height of about 210 miles, a density vastly greater than that of the same atmosphere in the interstellar spaces, and that its rigidity is about Trans that of steel; hence, that it is easily displace able by a moving ma , that it is not discontinuous or granular, and hence that as a whole it may be compared to an impalpable and all pervading jelly through which Light and Heat waves are constantly throbbing, which is constantly being set in local strains and released from them, and being whirled in local vortices, thus producing various phenomena of Electricity and Magnetism, through which the particles of ordinary matter move freely, encountering but little retardation, if any, for its elasticity, as it closes up behind each moving particle, is approximately perfect. A. Daniell, Prin. of Physics, p. 208. 3. In chem.: ( a ) One of a cla of organic bodies divided into two groups: (1) Simple ethers, consisting of two basic hydrocarbon radicals united by oxygen, and corresponding in constitution to the metallic oxids, as CH3OCH3, methyl ether, or methyl oxid, analogous to AgOAg, silver oxid. (2) Compound ethers, consisting of one or more W. K. Clifford , Lectures, I. 85. 5. In chem ., of or pertaining to an ether or to IMG:content-0753.png:[ocr errors] extract, an extract made by means of a menstruum containing ether. Ethereal medium, the ether. - Ethereal oil. ( a ) The oleum ætherium of the pharmacopeia, a volatile liquid consisting of equal volumes of heavy oil of wine and of stronger ether. Also called heary oil of wine. (b) Same as volatile oil (which see, under volatile ). = Syn. 1. Airy, aerial, empyreal. etherealisation, etherealise. See etherealiza tion, etherealize.