ether
/ˈiːθə(r)/noun
mass noun
1
- Chemistry a pleasant-smelling colourless volatile liquid that is highly flammable. It is used as an anaesthetic and as a solvent or intermediate in industrial processes.【化】乙醚。
1.1
- Alternative names: diethyl ether, ethoxyethane; chem. formula: C2H5OC2H5.又名：diethyl ether, ethoxyethane; 化学分子式：C2H5OC2H5.
1.2
- count noun any organic compound with a similar structure to this, having an oxygen atom linking two alkyl or other organic groups醚：
methyl t-butyl ether.
甲基t-丁基醚。
2
- （亦作aether）chiefly poetic/literary the clear sky; the upper regions of air beyond the clouds〈主诗/文〉太空; 苍穹：
nasty gases and smoke disperse into the ether.
污秽的气体和烟雾向空中散去。
3
- （亦作aether）Physics, archaic a very rarefied and highly elastic substance formerly believed to permeate all space, including the interstices between the particles of matter, and to be the medium whose vibrations constituted light and other electromagnetic radiation【物理】〈古〉以太, 能媒。
3.1
the ether
informal air regarded as a medium for radio〈非正式〉（被视为无线电载体的）空气：choral evensong still wafts across the ether.
唱诗班的晚祷声仍在从空气中随风飘过。
派生词
etheric
/iːˈθerɪk/ adjective词源
late Middle English: from Old French, or via Latin from Greek aithēr 'upper air', from the base of aithein 'burn, shine'. Originally the word denoted a substance believed to occupy space beyond the sphere of the moon. Sense 3 arose in the mid 17th cent. and sense 1 in the mid 18th cent.