AEOLIAN • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Aeolian

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noun

Aeolian n.

A member of one of the four divisions of the prehistoric Greeks.

Synonyms: Eolian

adjective

AEolian adj.

Of or pertaining to AEolia or AEolis, in Asia Minor, colonized by the Greeks, or to its inhabitants; aeolic; as, the AEolian dialect.

Pertaining to AEolus, the mythic god of the winds; aerial. "Viewless forms the aeolian organ play."

Relating to or caused by wind; as, aeolian erosion.

AEolian attachment, a contrivance often attached to a pianoforte, which prolongs the vibrations, increases the volume of sound, etc., by forcing a stream of air upon the strings.

AEolian harp, AEolian lyre, a musical instrument consisting of a box, on or in which are stretched strings, on which the wind acts to produce the notes; usually placed at an open window.

AEolian mode (Mus.), one of the ancient Greek and early ecclesiastical modes.

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Etymology of 'Aeolian'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Aeolian" Quotes from Famous Books

... at rest; the birds chimed in their exquisite music to the AEolian harp-like music of the breeze through the branches of the mountain pines; the waters pouring adown from the stupendous peaks created an everlasting song of love and constancy; bees and humming-birds drank delicious draughts from the blushing lips of a million nodding flowers; ...

— Deadwood Dick, The Prince of the Road - or, The Black Rider of the Black Hills • Edward L. Wheeler

... bow-window where Laura used to sit and watch us, sometimes, when we put off in the boat. Her aeolian harp was in the casement, breaking its heart in music. A delicate handkerchief was lodged between the cushions of the window-seat,—the very handkerchief she used to wave, in summer days long gone. The white boats went sailing beneath the evening light, ...

— Oldport Days • Thomas Wentworth Higginson

... now bestirring themselves—it is high time—but criticism has not died. Refined natures have heartstrings like the chords of Aeolian harps, sensitive to the faintest touch, responsive to the gentlest whisper of the evening breeze; such shrink in terror from the icy breath of the scoffer: the purpose is frozen dead within their souls. O criticism! what crimes have been committed in ...

— The Young Priest's Keepsake • Michael Phelan

... balcony Stephen could look over hills, near and far, dotted with white villas that lay like resting gulls on the green wave of verdure which cascaded down to join the blue waves of the sea. Up from that far blueness drifted on the wind a murmurous sound like AEolian harps, mingled with the tinkle of fairy mandolins in the ...

— The Golden Silence • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... Awake, Aeolian lyre, awake, And give to rapture all thy trembling strings! From Helicon's harmonious springs A thousand rills their mazy progress take; The laughing flowers that round them blow Drink life and fragrance as they flow. Now the rich stream of music winds along Deep, majestic, smooth, ...

— English Poets of the Eighteenth Century • Selected and Edited with an Introduction by Ernest Bernbaum

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