sylph

[prettygoodword]

sylph (SILF) - n., in Paracelsian occult philosophy, the elemental being of air; a slender, graceful woman or girl; any of several dark-green-and-blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.


If you are sensing a pattern here, yes, Paracelsus did indeed coin or repurpose words for the elementals of the other two elements. I'd put in a pic of a hummer, but that'd distract from the main theme here. Coined (in the same posthumous work as undine) in Medieval Latin in the plural form sylphēs, apparently (he didn't explain) as a blend of Latin sylvestris, of the woods, and nympha, nymph (from Ancient Greek nýmphē).

---L.

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

As Miss Trinidad and Tobago in the National Costume section of the 2004 Miss Universe pageant, Danielle Jones-Hunte conflated meanings #2 and #3; hummingbirds seem to be a favorite Latin Carnaval costume motif:



(Image description: a glamorous young Black woman on a pageant stage, in a costume consisting of an emerald-green sequined bikini with coordinating bracers and greaves, stiletto-heeled sandals, a teal sequined cowl with a jutting bird beak, and gauzy feather-patterned wire-supported wing flaps.)

[prettygoodword]

I'd count that as both 2 & 3, yup.