air

• aire, ayre, eyr (obsolete)
• ayr (especially when referring to the form of music)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɛə̯/, /ɛː/

  • Audio (UK)

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• (General American) enPR: âr, IPA^(key): /ɛɚ/, /ɛɹ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /eə̯/, [ɪə̯~eə̯]
• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
• Homophones: Ayr, ere, eyre, heir, are (unit of measurement); err (one pronunciation); e'er (US); ear (NZ)

From Middle English aire, from Old French air, from Latin āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr). Displaced native Old English lyft. More at lift, loft.

air (countable and uncountable, plural airs)

1. (uncountable, meteorology) The substance constituting Earth's atmosphere, particularly:

   I'm going outside to get some air.

   The air on Mars is so thin that high and low temperatures on the day differ a lot.

   1. (historical, philosophy, alchemy) understood as one of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
   2. (historical, medicine) understood as a particular local substance with supposed effects on human health.
      • 1991 May 12, "Kidnapped!" Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5:

        Jeeves: Foreign travel often liberates emotions best kept in check, sir. The air of North America is notoriously stimulating in this regard, as witness the regrettable behavior of its inhabitants in 1776.
        B. Wooster: Hm? What happened in 1776, Jeeves?
        Jeeves: I prefer not to dwell on it, if it's convenient to you, sir.

      There was a tension in the air which made me suspect an approaching storm.

   3. (physics) understood as a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and various trace gases.
2. (usually with the) The apparently open space above the ground which this substance fills, (historical) formerly thought to be limited by the firmament but (meteorology) now considered to be surrounded by the near vacuum of outer space.

   The flock of birds took to the air.

3. A breeze; a gentle wind.
4. A feeling or sense.

   to give it an air of artistry and sophistication

   • November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk

     Smalling’s quick one-two of yellow cards towards the end of the first half had left an air of inevitability about what would follow and, if anything, it was probably a surprise that City restricted themselves to Sergio Agüero’s goal bearing in mind another of United’s defenders, Marcos Rojo, was taken off on a stretcher early in the second half with a dislocated shoulder.

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, “chapter I”, in The House Behind the Cedars:

     The girl stooped to pluck a rose, and as she bent over it, her profile was clearly outlined. She held the flower to her face with a long-drawn inhalation, then went up the steps, crossed the piazza, opened the door without knocking, and entered the house with the air of one thoroughly at home.

5. A sense of poise, graciousness, or quality.
   • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 4, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, OCLC 1708336:

     "He is very plain, undoubtedly—remarkably plain:—but that is nothing compared with his entire want of gentility. I had no right to expect much, and I did not expect much; but I had no idea that he could be so very clownish, so totally without air. I had imagined him, I confess, a degree or two nearer gentility."

6. (usually in the plural) Pretension; snobbishness; pretence that one is better than others.

   putting on airs

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎:

     He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.

7. (music) A song, especially a solo; an aria.
   • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton […], OCLC 38659585:

     "If I," said Mr. Collins, "were so fortunate as to be able to sing, I should have great pleasure, I am sure, in obliging the company with an air; for I consider music as a very innocent diversion, and perfectly compatible with the profession of a clergyman […] "

8. (informal) Nothing; absence of anything.
9. (countable, uncountable) An air conditioner or the processed air it produces.

   Could you turn on the air?

   Hey, did you mean to leave the airs on all week while you were on vacation?

10. (obsolete, chemistry) Any specific gas.
11. (snowboarding, skateboarding, motor sports) A jump in which one becomes airborne.
12. A television or radio signal; (by extension) media broadcasts in general.
    • 1996, Thomas Streeter, Selling the Air, →ISBN:

      Ernst gave a list of political activists who had been denied access to the air by private broadcasters, and pointed out that "Secretary Hoover's signature in New York sells for $150,000 to $200,000," thus limiting access to the air on the part of labor unions and other underrepresented groups.

    • 2001, Dana Stabenow, The Singing of the Dead, →ISBN, page 17:

      Coming to you live once a month, or whenever I feel like broadcasting a little pirate air.

    • 2015, Gary Andres, ‎Paul Hernnson, Lobbying Reconsidered: Politics Under the Influence (page 149)

      “These members need air cover in the media.” Paid media is the admission ticket to enter the big-time Washington stage.

13. (uncountable) Publicity.

• atmosphere
• aura
• luft
• nimbus
• gas

Pages starting with “air”.

• aerate
• aero-
• aria

• → Jersey Dutch: êr

air (third-person singular simple present airs, present participle airing, simple past and past participle aired)

1. To bring (something) into contact with the air, so as to freshen or dry it.
2. To let fresh air into a room or a building, to ventilate.

   It's getting quite stuffy in this room: let's open the windows and air it.

3. To discuss varying viewpoints on a given topic.
   • 1917, National Geographic, v.31, March 1917:

     Thus, in spite of all opposition, the rural and urban assemblies retained the germ of local government, and in spite of the dual control, as the result of which much of their influence was nullified, they did have a certain value in airing abuses and suggesting improvements.

4. (transitive) To broadcast (a television show etc.).
5. (intransitive) To be broadcast.

   This game show first aired in the 1990s and is still going today.

6. (Britain, MLE, slang) To ignore (a person).

   Why is this girl airing me?

air

1. Pronunciation spelling of are.

• ARI, Ari, IAR, IRA, Ira, RIA, Rai, rai, raï, ria

• ayr

From Old Cornish aer, aƿui(r), borrowed from Latin aer.

• IPA^(key): [eːɹ]

air m

1. air

Borrowed from French air, from Middle French air, from Old French air, from Latin āēr.

• IPA^(key): /ɛːr/

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• Hyphenation: air
• Rhymes: -ɛːr

air m (plural airs, diminutive airtje n)

1. air, pretension or pretentious attitude
2. tune, melody

• Afrikaans: air

From Old French air, aire, from Latin āēr.

• IPA^(key): /ɛʁ/

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• Homophones: aire, airent, aires, airs, ère, ères, erre, errent, erres, ers, haire, haires, hère, hères

air m (plural airs)

1. air (gases of the atmosphere)

   trou d'air ― air pocket

   résistance de l'air ― air resistance

2. tune, aria
3. appearance

   avoir l'air ― to appear, to look, to seem

   air de famille ― family resemblance

4. air (pretension)

   prendre des airs ― to put on airs

   se donner des airs ― give oneself airs

• “air”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• ira
• rai

air

1. Romanization of 𐌰𐌹𐍂

From Malay air, from Classical Malay اير‎ (air), from Proto-Malayic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *wair, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

• IPA^(key): /ˈair/, [ˈa.ir]

• Audio

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air (first-person possessive airku, second-person possessive airmu, third-person possessive airnya)

1. water
   1. clear liquid H₂O
   2. mineral water
   3. one of the four elements in alchemy
   4. one of the five basic elements in some other theories
2. (colloquial) a cockfight round which started by spraying water to the cock.

• “air” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

From Old Irish airid (“ploughs, tills”).

• IPA^(key): /aɾʲ/

air (present analytic aireann, future analytic airfidh, verbal noun ar, past participle airthe)

1. (literary, transitive, intransitive) plough

air m

1. genitive singular of ar

• IPA^(key): (stressed) /ɛɾʲ/, (unstressed) /əɾʲ/

air (emphatic airsean)

1. third-person singular masculine of ar (on him, on it m)

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “air”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “3 airid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

From Proto-Malayic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *wair, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

• IPA^(key): /ä.jäq/

air

1. water.

   Air manis

   Sweet water

• IPA^(key): /ɑiɾ/

air

1. woman

• Bemal Organized Phonology Data

From Proto-Finnic *airo.

air

1. oar

First attested in the Talang Tuo inscription, 684AD. From Proto-Malayic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *air, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *wair, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

• IPA^(key): /air/
• Rhymes: -air, -ir
• (Johor-Riau) IPA^(key): [aʲɪː, -ʲeː, ʲe̞ː]

air (Jawi spelling اٴير‎, informal 1st possessive airku, 2nd possessive airmu, 3rd possessive airnya)

1. water (liquid H₂O)
   • 2012, Faridah Abdul Rashid, Research on the Early Malay Doctors : 1900-1957 : Malaya and Singapore

     loji rawatan air

     water treatment plant

• aek (Pontianak)
• aer (Medan)
• ayer (obsolete, surviving in place names)
• ayar

• Baba Malay: aye
• Indonesian: air

• Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary
• Pijnappel, Jan (1875), “اير ajar”, in Maleisch-Hollandsch woordenboek, John Enschede en Zonen, Frederik Muller, page 86
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901), “اير ayer or ayar”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 64
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932), “ayer”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume I, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 56-7

• “air” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

From Latin āēr.

air m (plural airs)

1. air (mixture of gases that make up the earth's atmosphere)

• atmosphère, atmosphéthe

• aer, aïr, ar, eir, aeir, eyer, aire

From Latin āēr.

air m (oblique plural airs, nominative singular airs, nominative plural air)

1. air (mixture of gases that make up the earth's atmosphere)

• French: air
• Norman: air
• → Middle English: air, eir
  • English: air
  • Scots: air

• ar

From the same root as ar (“for”, preposition).

• IPA^(key): /arʲ/

air

1. for (because, since)

For quotations using this term, see Citations:air.

• IPA^(key): /ɐjir/

air

1. (transitive) to strip off, as when stripping insulation off a wire
2. (transitive) to wipe off a ropelike object by drawing it through one's hand or fingers

   Air mahs keleuen.

   Please wipe the sap off the hibiscus bast.

From Middle English air, from Old French air, from Latin āēr.

air (uncountable)

1. air, atmosphere

• air-cock (“weathercock”)
• air-goat (“snipe”)

• “air, n.¹” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

From Icelandic ar (“mote, speck of dust”).

• aire, aer

air (plural airs)

1. (Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, Banff) A small quantity, particle, morsel; pinch (of snuff); whiff; taste

• “air, n.²” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Perhaps from air. See above.

air (third-person singular simple present airs, present participle airin, simple past aired, past participle aired)

1. (Orkney) to taste

• “air, v.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

From Middle English ore, from Old English ār, from Proto-West Germanic *airu.

• aer (Shetland)

air (plural airs)

1. (Orkney, Caithness, Northern) oar

• “air, n.³” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Derived from Old Norse eyrr.

• aer, aire, ayre, er (Insular)

air (plural airs)

1. (Orkney, Shetland) gravelly beach

• “air, n.⁴” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

From Middle English eire, from Old French eire, from Latin iter (“journey”).

air (plural airs)

1. (obsolete) eyre

• “air, n.⁵” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

From Middle English er, from Old English ǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *airi.

• ear

air (not comparable)

1. early

air (not comparable)

1. early

• “air, adv., adj.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

• IPA^(key): /ɛrʲ/
• (Lewis, Uist) IPA^(key): [ɛð]

From Old Irish for. Cognates include Irish ar and Manx er.

air (+ dative)

1. on, upon

   air bàrr a' bhalla ― on top of the wall

   Tha mi air an rathan ― I'm on my way.

2. of, concerning

   iomradh air do ghliocas ― a report of thy wisdom

3. for, on account of

   air an aobhar sin ― for that reason

4. by

   air ainm ― by name

• The word air and its derivates are used in many idioms:

  Dè an t-ainm a tha ort? ― What's your name? (What the name that is on you?)

  Tha an t-acras orm. ― I'm hungry. (The hunger is on me.)

From Old Irish for. Cognates include Irish air and Manx er.

air

1. third-person singular masculine of air: on him, on it

• Edward Dwelly (1911), “air”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language (John Grant, Edinburgh, 1925, Complied by Malcolm MacLennan)

From Proto-Finnic *airo.

air

1. oar

• IPA^(key): /ai̯r/

air

1. Soft mutation of gair.