sylph ******************************************************************************** 1. a. One of a race of beings or spirits supposed to inhabit the air (orig. in the system of Paracelsus). b. Applied to a graceful woman or girl; usually with implication of slender figure and light airy movement. (Cf. NYMPH n. 2.) 2. Gould's name for various humming-birds with long forked tails. 3. Comb., as sylph-like adj. and adv., -looking adj. Hence {sm}sylphic, {sm}sylphish, {sm}sylphy adjs., pertaining to, resembling, of the nature of, or characteristic of a sylph; sylph-like; {sm}sylphize v., trans. to give a sylphish character to.