zephyr

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The Word of the Day for June 19 is:

zephyr   \ZEFF-er\   noun
     1 a : a breeze from the west *b : a gentle breeze
     2 : any of various lightweight fabrics and articles of clothing

Example sentence:
     "There was not even a zephyr stirring; the dead noonday heat had even 
stilled the songs of the birds." (Mark Twain, _Tom Sawyer_)

Did you know?
     For centuries, poets have eulogized Zephyrus, the Greek god of the west 
wind, and his "swete breeth" (in the words of Geoffrey Chaucer). "Zephyrus," 
the personified west wind, eventually evolved into "zephyr," a word for a 
breeze that is westerly or gentle, or both. Breezy "zephyr" may have blown into 
English with the help of William Shakespeare, who used the word in his 1611 
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." 
Today, "zephyr" is also the sobriquet of a lightweight fabric and the clothing 
that is made from it.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





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