sylph

American  

[silf] / sɪlf /

noun

1. a slender, graceful woman or girl.

2. (in folklore) one of a race of supernatural beings supposed to inhabit the air.

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sylph British  

/ sɪlf /

noun

1. a slender graceful girl or young woman

2. any of a class of imaginary beings assumed to inhabit the air

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Related Words

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.

Other Word Forms

• sylphic adjective
• sylphlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of sylph

1650–60; from New Latin sylphēs (plural), coined by Paracelsus; apparently blend of sylva (variant spelling of Latin silva “forest”) and Greek nýmphē nymph

Explanation

A sylph is a lovely, slim young woman or girl. You could describe a row of graceful ballerinas as sylphs. A sylph is always young, female, and slender, moving with an almost otherworldly lightness and grace. The original meaning of sylph was a mythical fairy-like creature, an air spirit that's mentioned by the poet Alexander Pope and appears in several Shakespeare plays as well. The 19th century French ballet "La Sylphide" is thought to have led to the use of sylph to describe slender girls, especially ballet dancers.

Example Sentences

This Galadriel is not the cosmically attuned sylph we know from the films.

From Salon • Sep. 1, 2022

This is the archetype of Romantic ballets, opening with the image of the title sylph kneeling as she contemplates the Scots farmer James asleep in his armchair.

From New York Times • Oct. 7, 2018

Ori and the Blind Forest sees a catlike, snow-white biped with wings who darts like a sylph across the screen on a journey to revivify an evanescent forest.

From Time • Nov. 7, 2016

This all comes together in her first solo, just after the curtain rises, when the sylph shows us how light and supernatural she is, and how much in love, with a skimming, spinning dance.

From Washington Post • Feb. 25, 2016

“A monster, a maiden, a sylph of the ice. You kissed me, whispered stories in my ear. You sang to me and held me as I slept. Your laugh chased me into waking.”

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Related Words

• gnome
• goblin
• imp
• leprechaun