air

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /eə/, US /er/^[1]

Etymology

Barnhart and Hoad describe air as a combination of three senses of different origin.^[2][3] The main one, the gas, is inherited from Middle English air (also eir),^[3][4] borrowed from Old French air (“atmosphere, breeze, weather”),^[4][2] from Latin āēr (“air, lower atmosphere”),^[4][2] from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (āḗr, “mist, haze; air”),^[4][2][5] which is of unknown origin.^[4][2] Etymonline mentions a possible link with ἀείρειν (aeírein, “to raise”), as “that which rises”, but notes that the sounds do not fit well;^[4] Merriam-Webster thinks it probably akin to ἀήτης (aḗtēs, “wind, gale”).^[6] The sense “manner, appearance” is from French air, which probably goes back to Old French aire (“place, site, disposition”), from Latin ager (“field”) influenced by ārea (“open space”).^[7][3][8] The sense “melody” is from Italian aria, itself from Latin āēr.^[2][7][3] It is related to aria, aerial, aero- and malaria,^[5] and through the second strand to debonair.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The invisible gas around the earth: probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle,^[2] or about 1300 according to Etymonline.^[4] In Homer the Greek word mostly meant thick air or mist.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Air replaced the native word lyft, which survives in loft.^[4] In older chemistry any gas could be called an air.^[4] The sense “manner, appearance”, as in an air of mystery, appears in Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV (1596),^[2] and “an assumed manner” from the 1650s, with put on airs in 1781.^[4] The musical sense, “melody, tune”, is in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1590).^[2] The verb, “to expose to the open air”, dates from the 1520s^[4] or 1530,^[9][10] and “to make public” from the 1610s, of opinions or grievances from 1862.^[4] Castles in the air is from the 1590s, up in the air from 1752 and in the air from 1875.^[4] The broadcasting sense, as in on the air, is from 1927, and the verb “to broadcast” from 1933.^[4] Air pollution is recorded by 1870 and air guitar by 1983.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1200 – the atmosphere (Ancrene Riwle).^[2]
• 1520s – verb, to expose to the air.^[4]
• 1590 – a melody (A Midsummer Night's Dream).^[2]
• 1590s – castles in the air.^[4]
• 1596 – manner, appearance (1 Henry IV).^[2]
• 1650s – an affected manner.^[4]
• 1752 – up in the air.^[4]
• 1781 – put on airs.^[4]
• 1927 – on the air.^[4]
• 1933 – verb, to broadcast.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The colourless, odourless mixture of gases, mainly nitrogen and oxygen, that surrounds the earth.
2. The atmosphere or sky; space above the ground.
3. Aviation or travel by aircraft: by air.
4. The medium of radio and television broadcasting: on the air.
5. A distinctive quality or appearance; manner: an air of mystery.
6. (plural) An affected, haughty manner: put on airs.
7. (music) A melody or tune.

Verb

1. To expose to the air; to ventilate.
2. To make known publicly: air a grievance.
3. To broadcast on radio or television.

Word family

• airless
• airlessness
• airlike
• airing

Related words

• aerate
• aero-
• aria
• aerial
• malaria
• debonair
• aura
• loft

Usage notes

Two minor words have the same spelling: a Scots adverb air, “formerly, early”, related to ere, and air, “a gravelly beach, a sandbank”, from Old Norse eyrr, recorded from the early 18th century.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)