aether

Multiple Entries:
  aether    ether  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
aether

▶noun variant spelling of ether (sense 3 sense 4).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
ether /ˈiːθə/

▶noun

• 1 (also diethyl ether) a pleasant-smelling, volatile, highly flammable liquid used as an anaesthetic and as a solvent.

• 2 Chemistry any organic compound with an oxygen atom linking two alkyl groups.

• 3 (also aether) chiefly literary the clear sky; the upper regions of air beyond the clouds.

• 4 (also aether) Physics, historical a substance formerly postulated to permeate all space and to transmit light.

– derivatives
etheric /iːˈθɛrɪk, ˈiːθ(ə)rɪk/ adjective.

– origin ME: from OFr., or via L. from Gk aithēr ‘upper air’, from the base of aithein ‘burn, shine’.