zeph·yr

(zĕf′ər)

1. The west wind.

2. A gentle breeze.

3. Any of various soft light fabrics, yarns, or garments, especially a lightweight, checked gingham fabric.

4. Something that is airy, insubstantial, or passing.

[Middle English Zephirus, Zephyrus, from Latin Zephyrus, from Greek Zephuros.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

zephyr

(ˈzɛfə)

1. (Physical Geography) a soft or gentle breeze

2. (Textiles) any of several delicate soft yarns, fabrics, or garments, usually of wool

[C16: from Latin zephyrus, from Greek zephuros the west wind; probably related to Greek zophos darkness, west]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

zeph•yr

(ˈzɛf ər)

n.

1. a gentle, mild breeze.

2. (often cap.) Literary. the west wind.

3. any of various things of fine, light quality, as fabric or yarn.

[before 1000; Middle English zeferus, zephirus, Old English zefferus < Latin zephyrus < Greek zéphyros]

syn: See wind¹.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	zephyr - a slight wind (usually refreshing); "the breeze was cooled by the lake"; "as he waited he could feel the air on his neck" breeze, gentle wind, air sea breeze - a cooling breeze from the sea (during the daytime) breath - a slight movement of the air; "there wasn't a breath of air in the room" light air - wind moving 1-3 knots; 1 on the Beaufort scale light breeze - wind moving 4-7 knots; 2 on the Beaufort scale gentle breeze - wind moving 8-12 knots; 3 on the Beaufort scale moderate breeze - wind moving 13-18 knots; 4 on the Beaufort scale fresh breeze - wind moving 19-24 knots; 5 on the Beaufort scale strong breeze - wind moving 25-31 knots; 6 on the Beaufort scale air current, current of air, wind - air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure; "trees bent under the fierce winds"; "when there is no wind, row"; "the radioactivity was being swept upwards by the air current and out into the atmosphere"
	2.	Zephyr - (Greek mythology) the Greek god of the west wind Greek mythology - the mythology of the ancient Greeks

zephyr

noun

1. A gentle wind:

breeze.

2. A natural movement or current of air:

air, blast, blow, breeze, gust, wind.

Archaic: gale.

Translations

zefýr

Zefyros

zefírZephürosz

zephyr

[ˈzefəʳ] N → céfiro m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

zephyr

n (poet) → Zephir m (poet), → Zephyr m (poet)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

zephyr

[ˈzɛfəʳ] n (liter) → zefiro

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Heel over toe--cut and shuffle--pay away at it, Zephyr! I'm smothered if the opera house isn't your proper hemisphere.

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Euroclydon, nevertheless, is a mighty pleasant zephyr to any one in-doors, with his feet on the hob quietly toasting for bed.

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When he had effected this proper restitution, "Now," said he to himself, "let us inhale much maternal air, much freedom from cares, much health, let us allow the horse Zephyr, whose flanks puff as if he had to respire an atmosphere to breathe, and let us be very ingenious in our little calculations.

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There was not even a zephyr stirring; the dead noonday heat had even stilled the songs of the birds; nature lay in a trance that was broken by no sound but the occasional far-off hammering of a wood- pecker, and this seemed to render the pervading silence and sense of loneliness the more profound.

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"Excuse me my Sophia for having thus unwillingly offended you--" replied I--and then changing the conversation, desired her to admire the noble Grandeur of the Elms which sheltered us from the Eastern Zephyr. "Alas!

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"I will bind up your poor little leg, and Zephyr shall rock you to sleep." So she folded the cool leaves tenderly about the poor fly, bathed his wings, and brought him refreshing drink, while he hummed his thanks, and forgot his pain, as Zephyr softly sung and fanned him with her waving wings.

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But at that time let me have a shady rock and wine of Biblis, a clot of curds and milk of drained goats with the flesh of an heifer fed in the woods, that has never calved, and of firstling kids; then also let me drink bright wine, sitting in the shade, when my heart is satisfied with food, and so, turning my head to face the fresh Zephyr, from the everflowing spring which pours down unfouled thrice pour an offering of water, but make a fourth libation of wine.

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I have spent many an hour, when I was younger, floating over its surface as the zephyr willed, having paddled my boat to the middle, and lying on my back across the seats, in a summer forenoon, dreaming awake, until I was aroused by the boat touching the sand, and I arose to see what shore my fates had impelled me to; days when idleness was the most attractive and productive industry.

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Spring had come, clad in no classical garb, yet fairer than all springs; fairer even than she who walks through the myrtles of Tuscany with the graces before her and the zephyr behind.

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A delicious zephyr played along the coasts of the Mediterranean, and wafted from shore to shore the sweet perfume of plants, mingled with the fresh smell of the sea.

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Now he worked at skinning the six pigs and his eyes and his fingers worked as though there was naught else in all the world than these six carcasses; but his ears and his nose were as busily engaged elsewhere--the former ranging the forest all about and the latter assaying each passing zephyr. It was his nose that first discovered the approach of Sabor, the lioness, when the wind shifted for a moment.

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Nor was the atmosphere quite free from zephyr whisperings of the thirty beds which had just been cleared away, and of which we were further and more pressingly reminded by the occasional appearance on the table-cloth of a kind of Game, not mentioned in the Bill of Fare.

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