sylph Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a slender graceful young woman
  2. noun an elemental being believed to inhabit the air

WordNet

Sylph noun
Etymology
F. sylphe, m., fr. Gr. a kind of grub, beetle, or moth; -- so called by Paracelsus.
Definitions
  1. An imaginary being inhabiting the air; a fairy.
  2. Fig.: A slender, graceful woman.
  3. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of very brilliant South American humming birds, having a very long and deeply-forked tail; as, the blue-tailed sylph (Cynanthus cyanurus).

Webster 1913