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ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY:
- 1806, Latinized from Fr. urée (1803), from Gk. ouron "urine" (see urine).
- early 14c., from Old French urine (12c.), from Latin urina "urine," from PIE *ur- (cf. Greek ouron "urine"), variant of root *awer- "to moisten, flow" (cf. Sanskrit var "water," Avestan var "rain," Lithuanian jures "sea," Old English wær, Old Norse ver "sea," Old Norse ur "drizzling rain").
- 1838, modeled on Ger. äthyl (Liebig), from Gk. aither (see ether) + hyle "stuff." Ethyl alcohol, under other names, was widely used in medicine by 13c.
- late 14c., "upper regions of
space," from O.Fr. ether and directly from L. aether "the
upper pure, bright air," from Gk. aither "upper air;
bright, purer air; the sky," from aithein "to burn,
shine," from PIE root *aidh- "to burn" (see
edifice).
In ancient cosmology, the element that filled all space beyond the sphere of the moon, constituting the substance of the stars and planets. Conceived of as a purer form of fire or air, or as a fifth element. From 17c.-19c., it was the scientific word for an assumed "frame of reference" for forces in the universe, perhaps without material properties. The concept was shaken by the Michelson-Morley experiment (1887) and discarded after the Theory of Relativity won acceptance, but before it went it gave rise to the colloquial use of ether for "the radio" (1899).
The name also was bestowed c.1730 (Frobenius; in English by 1757) on a volatile chemical compound known since 14c. for its lightness and lack of color (its anesthetic properties weren't fully established until 1842).
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