Meaning

noun the fifth and highest element after air and earth and fire and water; was believed to be the substance composing all heavenly bodies

noun any of a class of organic compounds that have two hydrocarbon groups linked by an oxygen atom

noun a medium that was once supposed to fill all space and to support the propagation of electromagnetic waves

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ-der. Proto-Hellenic *áitʰō Ancient Greek αἴθω (aíthō) ▲ Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.? Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithḗr)der. Latin aethērder. English ether From Middle English ēther (“the caelum aetherum of ancient cosmology in which the planets orbit; a shining, fluid substance described as a form of air or fire; air”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman ether and…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0