Merriam Webster Word of the Day Zephyr

Zephyr

zephyr
noun
zeph·​yr ˈze-fər
Synonyms of zephyr

Did you know?

To build on a classic lyric by Bob Dylan, you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows—especially if you know that wind is a zephyr. You see, poets have eulogized Zephyrus, the Greek god of the west wind—and his “swete breeth” (in the words of Geoffrey Chaucer)—for centuries. Zephyrus, the personified west wind, eventually evolved into zephyr, a word for a breeze that is westerly or gentle, or both. Breezy zephyr blew into English with the help of such delightfully windy wordsmiths as William Shakespeare, who used the word in his play Cymbeline: “Thou divine Nature, thou thyself thou blazon’st / In these two princely boys! They are as gentle / As zephyrs blowing below the violet.”


Synonyms

   air
   breath
   breeze
   puff
   waft

Recent Examples on the Web Most summer days on the TMB are luxurious, with zephyrs rustling the pastures, blue skies, and great hiking temperatures. — Doug Mayer, Outside Online, 15 Feb. 2023 The chilly zephyr of truth. — Eric Zorn, chicagotribune.com, 22 June 2021 Not some Paris-in-the-springtime zephyr, but something better suited to wintertime and the coast of Brittany. —
Christopher Clarey, New York Times, 7 June 2019
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'zephyr.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.


Etymology

Middle English Zephirus, west wind (personified), from Latin Zephyrus, god of the west wind & zephyrus west wind, zephyr, from Greek Zephyros & zephyros
First Known Use

1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of zephyr was in 1567
See more words from the same year

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