gossamer
\ GOS-uh-mer \, noun;
1.a fine, filmy cobweb seen on grass or bushes or floating in the air in calm weather, especially in autumn.
2.a thread or a web of this substance.
3.an extremely delicate variety of gauze, used especially for veils.
4.any thin, light fabric.
5.something extremely light, flimsy, or delicate.
6.a thin, waterproof outer garment, especially for women.
adjective:
1.of or like gossamer; thin and light. Also, gossamery , gossamered .
Quotes:
The dew rose and turned to golden mist, thin as a dream, enveloping them until they seemed gossamer relics of the late night, infinitely transient and already fading.
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Offshore Pirate," Flappers and Philosophers , 1920
The silken hair, too, had suffered to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer texture, it floated rather than fell about the face, I could not, even with effort, connect its Arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity.
-- Edgar Allan Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher," Burton's Gentleman's Magazine , 1839
Origin:
Gossamer is thought to be a variation on the Middle English term gosesomer , or "goose summer," the first name used for late, mild autumn, a time when goose was a favorite dish. It entered English in the late 1200s.
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