Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ah, inter. [OFr a or ah.] (webplay: pity). Exclamatory particle with the following nuances:

1. Surprise; wonder; [equivalent of “Oh!” and “O!”.]
2. Endearing; admiring; adoring.
3. Nostalgic; wishful; lamenting; [sound accompanying a sigh.]
4. Entreating; appealing.
5. Irony; sarcasm; mockery; [similar to “aha” and “ah, but.”]
6. Sympathy.

aid, n. [OFr < late L. ajūta, help.]

Help; comfort; relief; assistance; support.

aid (-ed), v. [OFr < L. ad, to + juvā-re, to help.]

1. Comfort; relieve; succor; alleviate; assuage; sooth; minimize suffering for; ease the pain for.
2. Help; assist.
3. Work together with; complement the color of.

ail (-ed), v. [OE egl-an, trouble.] (webplay: know, troubled).

Arouse; stimulate; make nervous; stir the emotions of; excite physically or mentally.

aim (-s), n. [Picard amer, OFr/Provençal esmer, and OFr æsmer < late L. ad-æstimā-re, to estimate.]

1. Mission; destination; objective; plan; ambition; purpose; intention; means of accomplishment; way to reach a point.
2. Divine direction; heavenly motive; higher power; orderly system; law of the universe.

aim (-ed, -s), v. [see aim, n.] (webplay: accomplish).

Point with a weapon; direct the trajectory of a weapon; estimate the distance to a point of attack; calculate the direction of a hit; [fig.] focus attention.

aimless, adv. [see aim, n.]

Pointlessly; randomly; arbitrarily; casually; artlessly; indiscriminately; without a specific design.

air (-s), n. [OFr air < L. < Gk 'to breathe', 'blow'; NW gives a related Semitic root meaning “to shine.”] (webplay: abroad, appearance, atmosphere, breathe, colorless, current, different, distance, dry, earth, exhibit, fair, flight, foul, gravity, gay, good, graceful, high, hope, inodorous, invisible, length, life, light, liquors, look(s). , morning, notes, open, person, possessed, pride, public, rarefied, ride, show, soft, solidity, song, specific, substance, tune, uncertain, utterance, variety, walk, warm, water, weight, wind, words).

1. Sky; space above the earth and sea.
2. Atmosphere; invisible, odorless, colorless substance which surrounds the earth.
3. Oxygen; life-giving substance that humans and animals breath.
4. Medium that transports sound; atmosphere as a vehicle for sound waves.
5. Medium that transports intangible elements; [fig.] feelings; ideas.
6. Void; empty space.
7. Wind; breeze; clouds; atmospheric currents.
8. Ambience; season; weather period; time of year; atmosphere of a certain place or time.
9. Attitude; appearance; assumed social position.
10. Smoke.
11. Liberty; freedom.
12. Heavens; home on high.
13. Phrase. “In the air”: potential; hypothetical; imaginary.

airy, adj. [see air, n.]

Wind-filled; [fig.] delicate; flimsy; imaginary; ethereal; lofty; heavenly.

aisle (-s), n. [OFr > L. ala, wing.] (webplay: church).

1. Wing; annex; hallway; vault; chamber.
2. Row; passageway; walking space between pews or seats in a church; lateral division between the seating sections in a church.
3. Main walkway in great hall; central corridor of a large domed room.
4. Row between graves in a cemetery.
5. Space between trees in a forest; various paths of creatures in nature.