Link Centre Dictionary

vaporous

va·po·rous

UK/ˈveɪpəɹəs/ US/ˈveɪpɹəs/ uncommon

adjective

1.

so thin as to transmit light

  • “a hat with a diaphanous veil”
  • “filmy wings of a moth”
  • “gauzy clouds of dandelion down”
  • “gossamer cobwebs”
  • “sheer silk stockings”
  • “transparent chiffon”
  • “vaporous silks”
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2.

resembling or characteristic of vapor

  • “vaporous clouds”
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3.

filled with vapor

  • “miasmic jungles”
  • “a vaporous bog”
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Origin

From Middle English vaporous, from Late Latin vapōrōsus (“full of steam”), from Latin vapor (“exhalation; smoke; steam, vapour”) (possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *kwep- (“to boil; to smoke, steam; aroma; strong odour”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). The English word is analysable as vapour + -ous. Possibly a doublet of hope. Cognates * French vaporeux (“misty, vaporous; filmy, transparent”) * Italian vaporoso (“flimsy, gauzy; fluffy; vaporous”) * Portuguese vaporoso * Spanish vaporoso (“airy; vaporous”)

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.