Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as Æolic.
  • Pertaining to Æolus, the god of the winds in Greek mythology, and hence sometimes (with or without a capital) to the wind in general: as, the Æolian Isles (now the Lipari islands, north of Sicily), the fabled home of the god. Also written Eolian and Aiolian.
  • Due to atmospheric action; windblown: as, an æolian deposit: applied, in geology, to accumulations of detrital material, especially fine sand and loam, which have been carried to their present position by the wind.
  • Pertaining to the branch of the Greek race named from Æolus, son of Hellen, or to Æolia or Æolis, a district of Asia Minor north of Ionia colonized by and named from them.
  • The ninth of the Gregorian church modes or scales. It was the fifth of the authentic modes, and consisted of a step + a half step + two steps + a half step + two steps, represented by the natural notes of the staff beginning with A and counting upward.
  • noun A member of one of the three great divisions of the ancient Greek race, the two other divisions being the Dorian and the Ionian. Also written Eolian and Aiolian.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to Æolia or Æolis, in Asia Minor, colonized by the Greeks, or to its inhabitants; æolic.
  • adjective Pertaining to Æolus, the mythic god of the winds; aërial.
  • adjective relating to or caused by wind.
  • adjective 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.
  • adjective 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.
  • adjective (Mus.) one of the ancient Greek and early ecclesiastical modes.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Alternative spelling of aeolian.

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