English
air
Air comes from Middle English aire, from Old French air, from Latin āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ ‘mist, air’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾱ̓ήρāḗr‘mist, air’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāēr
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400air
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aire
- Englishearliest quotation 1813air
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾱ̓ήρāḗr‘mist, air’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāēr
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400air
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aire
- Englishearliest quotation 1813air
Earliest quotation: 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice: […]: “If I," said Mr. Collins, "were so fortunate as…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- ‘to dawn’
or, east, exhaust, aurora, aureus, aural, aurelia, austral, oriel, oriole, aurum, 59 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewsér ‘in the direction of dawn, east’
easter, aura, eastward, 16 more
through Proto-Hellenic *auhḗr
aerial, malaria, aeroplane, 13 more
through Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ ‘mist’
Today it means
noun The substance constituting Earth's atmosphere: a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and various trace gases.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ / air