Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A fine film of cobwebs that is often seen floating in the air or is caught on bushes or grass.
  • noun Something that is light, delicate, or sheer, such as fabric.
  • adjective Sheer, light, or delicate: synonym: airy.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fine filmy substance, consisting of cobweb formed by various small spiders, and only, according to some, when they are young.
  • noun A variety of gauze, softer and stronger than the ordinary kind, much used for veils.
  • noun Any thin or light material or fabric; also, a garment made of such material; specifically, a thin water-proof outer wrap, especially for women.
  • noun A mere trifle; a flimsy, trivial matter.
  • Thin and light as gossamer; light: as, a gossamer waterproof or coat.

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

  • noun A fine, filmy substance, like cobwebs, floating in the air, in calm, clear weather, especially in autumn. It is seen in stubble fields and on furze or low bushes, and is formed by small spiders.
  • noun Any very thin gauzelike fabric; also, a thin waterproof stuff.
  • noun An outer garment, made of waterproof gossamer.
  • noun (Zoöl.) any small or young spider which spins webs by which to sail in the air. See Ballooning spider.

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

  • noun A fine film or strand as of cobwebs, floating in the air or caught on bushes etc.
  • noun A soft, sheer fabric.
  • noun Anything delicate, light and flimsy.
  • adjective Tenuous, light, filmy or delicate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture
  • adjective characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy
  • noun filaments from a web that was spun by a spider
  • adjective so thin as to transmit light

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English gossomer : gos, goose; see goose + somer, summer (probably from the abundance of gossamer during early autumn when geese migrate and are often hunted ); see summer.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English gossomer, from gos ("goose") + somer ("summer").

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Examples

  • They would laugh in gossamer tones, and then move on gracefully to someone else, sometimes moving gracefully at speeds exceeding 40 mph.

    Random Ferrettage, Part Deux: Costuming My Whatever-You-Call-Her 2004

  • It seems the gossamer should be able to accomplish this with out giving you too much bulk, though it's all purely hypothetical on my part.

    Jean's Knitting Jean 2009

  • Professor Rhys, in his Welsh Fairy Tales -- _Y Cymmrodor_ vol. v., p. 75 -- says, that gossamer, which is generally called in North Wales

    Welsh Folk-Lore a Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales Elias Owen

  • The gossamer is a sign both of approaching autumn and, exactly at the opposite season of the year, of approaching spring.

    Nature Near London Richard Jefferies 1867

  • The remark that I shall make on these cobweb-like appearances, called gossamer, is, that, strange and superstitious as the notions about them were formerly, nobody in these days doubts but that they are the real production of small spiders, which swarm in the fields in fine weather in autumn, and have a power of shooting out webs from their tails so as to render themselves buoyant, and lighter than air.

    The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 2 Gilbert White 1756

  • It's not easy to put this kind of gossamer dynamic into words, but it was as if the African American population possessed a kind of subconscious forgiveness for the whites around them.

    ��obamanos! 2009

  • It's not easy to put this kind of gossamer dynamic into words, but it was as if the African American population possessed a kind of subconscious forgiveness for the whites around them.

    clockwatching 2009

  • The aeronautic spiders are known as "gossamer" spiders, because of the extreme lightness of the filaments that they cast out to the wind.

    The Book of the Damned Charles Fort

  • Agostino and Laura, laughing in their hearts at the mother's mysterious veneration for Carlo, had to explain that 'gossamer' was a poetic, generic term, to embrace the lighter qualities of masculine youth.

    Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868

  • Agostino and Laura, laughing in their hearts at the mother's mysterious veneration for Carlo, had to explain that 'gossamer' was a poetic, generic term, to embrace the lighter qualities of masculine youth.

    Vittoria — Complete George Meredith 1868

Comments

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  • Seinfeld - Season 9, Episode 13 - "The Cartoon"

    February 14, 2007

  • Gossamer is probably a meld of Latin Gossypium = the genus of cotton + mare = the sea, that is, sea-foam.

    June 16, 2009

  • The OED notes that it comes from "goose" + "summer" -- it's a Germanic rather than a Latinate word. Language Hat has a post on it: http://www.languagehat.com/archives/003920.php

    July 8, 2010

  • I say you're both right.

    August 23, 2010

  • characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy

    The gossamer wings of a butterfly, which allow it to fly, are also a curse, so delicate that they are often damaged.

    October 15, 2016