It's Merion Webster's word of the day for April 2nd.

Today's word is ethereal spelled e-t-e-a-l. E-e-a-l. E-r-e-a-l. Ethereal is an adjective. It means of or relating to the regions beyond the earth or of or resembling heaven. It can also mean

lacking material substance and relating to containing or resembling a chemical

ether. Here's the word used in a sentence from The World We Make, a

novel by An K Jemison.

Rilia laughs to see that Manny has brought his battle persona of King Kong to the four again, this time directing the strategy of all the others.

The beast's lower half is elsewhere, ethereal, transcending the realms again so as to minimize damage and loss of life.

The upper half, however, has formed very real fists of tough, ancientan Shist.

If you're burning to know the history of the word ethereal, you're in the right spirit to fully understand the words etymology.

The ancient Greeks believed that the earth was composed of earth, air, fire, and water,

but that the heavens and its denizens were made of a purer, less tangible substance known in English transliteration as either quintessence or ether.

Ether was often described as an invisible light or fire.

Its name comes from the Greek verb Aethine, meaning to ignite or to blaze.

When Ethereal, the adjective kin of ether debuted in English in the 1500s, it described regions beyond the earth or anything that seemed to originate

from them.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolosky. Visit Marion Webster.

Webster.com today for definitions, word play, and trending word lookups.