Ether word meaning and definition

[noun] a colorless volatile highly inflammable liquid used as an inhalation anesthetic
[noun] a medium that was once supposed to fill all space and to support the propagation of electromagnetic waves
[noun] (archaic) the fifth and highest element after air and earth and fire and water; was believed to be the substance composing all heavenly bodies

\E"ther\, n. [L. aether, Gr. ?, fr. ? to light up, kindle, burn, blaze; akin to Skr. idh, indh, and prob. to E. idle: cf. F. ['e]ther.] [Written also {[ae]ther}.] 1. (Physics) A medium of great elasticity and extreme tenuity, supposed to pervade all space, the interior of solid bodies not excepted, and to be the medium of transmission of light and heat; hence often called {luminiferous ether}. 2. Supposed matter above the air; the air itself. 3. (Chem.)
(a) A light, volatile, mobile, inflammable liquid, {(C2H5)2O}, of a characteristic aromatic odor, obtained by the distillation of alcohol with sulphuric acid, and hence called also {sulphuric ether}. It is powerful solvent of fats, resins, and pyroxylin, but finds its chief use as an an[ae]sthetic. Called also {ethyl oxide}.
(b) Any similar oxide of hydrocarbon radicals; as, amyl ether; valeric ether. {Complex ether}, {Mixed ether} (Chem.), an oxide of two different radicals in the same molecule; as, ethyl methyl ether, {C2H5.O.CH3}. {Compound ether} (Chem.), an ethereal salt or a salt of some hydrocarbon as the base; an ester. {Ether engine} (Mach.), a condensing engine like a steam engine, but operated by the vapor of ether instead of by steam.

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