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aery

giorovv

Senior Member
Italiano
Hi all, I saw on the dictionary the word aery, as a synonym of airy: light, ethereal. I searched aery on Google and found something but it still feels to me that it is a very little used word. I wanted to know if, for you, the average english speaker would understand this word.
I would expect to see it in a context where a lot of other words also had old-fashioned spellings so I'll say "probably" since the reader would be expecting spellings like that. Note that "aery" appears in the works of Shakespeare as a form of "eyrie" rather than "airy."
I would expect to see it in a context where a lot of other words also had old-fashioned spellings so I'll say "probably" since the reader would be expecting spellings like that. Note that "aery" appears in the works of Shakespeare as a form of "eyrie" rather than "airy."
The OED states that its occurrence, with that meaning, in modern written English is 0.04 per million words.
Both very clear, thank you!
Hi all, I saw on the dictionary the word aery, as a synonym of airy: light, ethereal. I searched aery on Google and found something but it still feels to me that it is a very little used word. I wanted to know if, for you, the average english speaker would understand this word.
If I saw it written I would interpret it as either an archaic word or as a variant spelling of aerie (a kind of large nest). If spoken aloud it would probably be pronounced the same as "airy."
To be clear, it’s highly likely that none of us have ever used, or will ever use, the word aery, spelt that way.
However, I am italian and I truly love my language, but I find in english a sort of elegance, a fluidity than can hardly be found in other countries...
Yes, it’s β€œchiefly poetic and literary in later use”, according to the [online] OED. Their list of examples includes works by Milton, Shelley and Matthew Arnold, as well as these two from within living memory:

1954
Great clouds of orangy Monarch butterflies, like twinkling aery fields of flowers.
J. Steinbeck, Sweet Thursday xxxviii. 259

1995
I would be that sponge filling, always filling with light, with such aery fluff as angels bear with good will.
D. Ray, Kangaroo Paws 52
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