Emily Dickinson Lexicon

eider, adj. [Icel. æthar.] (webplay: duck).

1. Airy; soft; floating; plumy; light-weight; [fig.] tutu; swan-feather; made of net; like a ballet skirt.
2. Angelic; winged; [fig.] snowy; cloudy; billowy; [metaphor] whispered; soft-spoken.
3. Phrase. “Eider duck”: species of duck; water fowl whose plumage is used for bedding; bird that lines its nest with downy feathers.