sylphid

English

Etymology

From French sylphide. See sylph.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪlfɪd/

Noun

sylphid (plural sylphids)

1. (poetic) A young or little sylph.
   • 1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[Book XVII. Corinna in Scotland.] Chap[ter] VI.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume V, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, page 50:

     He insisted on it, and Lucilia, at length, placed her elegant foot on his hand, and darted so nimbly on horseback, that all her motions gave the idea of one of those sylphids, which imagination paints to us in such delicate colours.

   • 1819, Joseph Rodman Drake, The Culprit Fay:

     the palace of the sylphid queen

   • 1712 May, [Alexander Pope], “The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-comical Poem.”, in Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, canto II:

     Ye sylphs and sylphids, to your chief give ear.

Further reading

• “sylphid”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.