Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In Aristophanes's comedy “The Birds,” an imaginary city built in the clouds by the birds at the instigation of two Athenians, and represented both as a fantastic caricature of Athens in the poet's day and as a sort of Philistine Utopia full of gross enjoyments; hence, in literary allusion, cloudland; fools' paradise.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The act of seeking and finding
shapes inclouds .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Ancient Greek. The word comes from the play The Birds by the Greek playwright Aristophanes.
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Examples
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reesetee commented on the word nephelococcygia
From WWFTD, 5/16/08:
1) capitalized: cloud cuckoo land
2) the act of finding shapes in clouds
First used by Aristophanes in The Birds, (414 BC), this was to be a city in the clouds; fr. nephele, "cloud" + kokkyx, "cuckoo."
May 16, 2008
mialuthien commented on the word nephelococcygia
It is pronounced /ne-fê-lê-kak-'si-jee-yê/.
July 27, 2008
hernesheir commented on the word nephelococcygia
This word belongs in the Wordnik lists of imagined places and destinaitons.
January 23, 2013