| 单词 | sylph |
| 释义 | sylph —sylphic, adj. —sylphlike, adj. /silf/, n. 1. a slender, graceful woman or girl. 2. (in folklore) one of a race of supernatural beings supposed to inhabit the air. [1650-60; < NL sylphes (pl.), coined by Paracelsus; appar. b. sylva (var. sp. of L silva forest) and Gk nýmphe NYMPH] Syn. 2. SYLPH, SALAMANDER, UNDINE (NYMPH), GNOME were imaginary beings inhabiting the four elements once believed to make up the physical world. All except the GNOMES were female. SYLPHS dwelt in the air and were light, dainty, and airy beings. SALAMANDERS dwelt in fire: "a salamander that ... lives in the midst of flames" (Addison). UNDINES were water spirits: By marrying a man, an undine could acquire a mortal soul. (They were also called NYMPHS, though nymphs were ordinarily minor divinities of nature who dwelt in woods, hills, and meadows as well as in waters.) GNOMES were little old men or dwarfs, dwelling in the earth: ugly enough to be king of the gnomes. |
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