Aeolian
1 Americanadjective
noun
adjective
-
of or relating to this people or their dialect of Ancient Greek; Aeolic
-
of or relating to Aeolus
-
denoting or relating to an authentic mode represented by the ascending natural diatonic scale from A to A: the basis of the modern minor key See also Hypo-
Etymology
Origin of Aeolian1
First recorded in 1595–1605; Aeoli(us) pertaining to Aeolus + -an adjective suffix; see -an
Origin of Aeolian2
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin Aeoli(ī), (from Greek Aioleîs “the Aeolians,” with change of suffix) + -an
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the summer, the influx of visitors is a challenge for the Aeolian Islands. which have only around 15,000 year-round residents.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
It’s one of the Aeolian islands in Italy, and it looks out on Stromboli.
From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2023
The largest, is a £1.98m contract with Aeolian Offshore Ltd, a company based in the Isle of Wight.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2022
He had an Aeolian pipe organ installed at one end of the room.
From Washington Post ● May 25, 2018
Then they headed for Aeolian Hall, where the competition to select the winning vocalist was being held.
From "The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights" by Russell Freedman
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Finally, the fourth removes all anthropogenic sources for reference, thus only accounting for natural sources such as aeolian dust, marine and terrestrial biosphere emissions, and natural wildfires.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2023
She’d designed as she would have designed for herself, a cathedral carved into a hillside, and aeolian pipes in it and grown into the trees outside.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2022
“It’s obviously a simplification, but I imagine I would be closer to the activist side of the spectrum,” says Taylor, whose less aeolian approach set him at odds with one French writer, Maylis de Kerangal.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 6, 2019
With sufficient sediment influx, aeolian systems can potentially form large dunes in dry or wet conditions.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2017
The wind blowing through the baling wire which anchored the stove-pipe to the wall sounded like an aeolian harp played by a maniac.
From The Dude Wrangler by Caroline Lockhart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.