Other forms: aired, airing, airs
Air is the invisible mixture of gases all around us that every living thing breathes. Fresh air, a breath of air, the air is cold.
It is about four fifths nitrogen and one fifth oxygen, with the rest a small fraction. Air also means manner or appearance: an air of confidence, put on airs. As a verb, to air something is to let fresh air through it — air the room — or to make it public: air a grievance, air a programme. Note on air, meaning broadcasting; and up in the air, meaning undecided.
1nounairThe invisible mixture of gases that living things breathe.~88%
“The air in that room has not moved since about 1988.”
2nounmannerA manner or appearance.~2%
“There was an air of complete confidence and no plan at all.”
3verbfreshTo let fresh air through, or to make public.~10%
“She aired the whole grievance in front of the committee.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 10 sentences found in the wild and placed 10 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
air is a gas, or a manner.
Greek aer meant the lower atmosphere, as against aither, the bright upper air — which gives ether. Latin took aer, and English took it from French, so the word has been in Europe unchanged for about three thousand years.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂ews-
Middle English
aire
English, today
air
From Middle English aire. From Middle English aire, from Old French air, from Latin āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ. Displaced native lyft. More at lift, loft.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA