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.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
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