Ether vs. Nether — What's the Difference?

Ethers are a class of organic compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula R–O–R′, where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups.

Located beneath or below; lower or under

Any of a class of organic compounds in which two hydrocarbon groups are linked by an oxygen atom.

Lower; under.

A volatile, highly flammable liquid, C4H10O, derived from distilling ethyl alcohol with sulfuric acid, used as a reagent and solvent, and formerly used as an anesthetic. Also called diethyl ether, ethyl ether.

Lying beneath, or conceived as lying beneath, the Earth’s surface.

The regions of space beyond the earth's atmosphere; the heavens.

Down; downward.

The element believed in ancient and medieval civilizations to fill all space above the sphere of the moon and to compose the stars and planets.

Low; low down.

(Physics) An all-pervading, infinitely elastic, massless medium formerly postulated as the medium of propagation of electromagnetic waves.

To bring or thrust down; bring or make low; lower; abase; humble.

The substance formerly supposed to fill the upper regions of the atmosphere above the clouds, in particular as a medium breathed by deities.

To constrict; straiten; confine; restrict; suppress; lay low; keep under; press in upon; vex; harass; oppress.

(by extension) The medium breathed by human beings; the air.

To pinch or stunt with cold or hunger; check in growth; shrivel; straiten.

(by extension) The sky, the heavens; the void, nothingness.

To shrink or huddle, as with cold; be shivery; tremble.

Often as aether and more fully as luminiferous aether: a substance once thought to fill all unoccupied space that allowed electromagnetic waves to pass through it and interact with matter, without exerting any resistance to matter or energy; its existence was disproved by the 1887 Michelson–Morley experiment and the theory of relativity propounded by Albert Einstein (1879–1955).

To depreciate; disparage; undervalue.

The atmosphere or space as a medium for broadcasting radio and television signals; also, a notional space through which Internet and other digital communications take place; cyberspace.

Oppression; stress; a withering or stunting influence.

A particular quality created by or surrounding an object, person, or place; an atmosphere, an aura.

(mining) A trouble; a fault or dislocation in a seam of coal.

Diethyl ether (C4H10O), an organic compound with a sweet odour used in the past as an anaesthetic.

Situated down or below; lying beneath, or in the lower part; having a lower position; belonging to the region below; lower; under; - opposed to upper.

Any of a class of organic compounds containing an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrocarbon groups.

Lower;

(uncountable) Starting fluid.

Of the underworld;

To viciously humiliate or insult.

Located below or beneath something else;

A medium of great elasticity and extreme tenuity, once supposed to pervade all space, the interior of solid bodies not excepted, and to be the medium of transmission of light and heat; hence often called luminiferous ether. It is no longer believed that such a medium is required for the transmission of electromagnetic waves; the modern use of the term is mostly a figurative term for empty space, or for literary effect, and not intended to imply the actual existence of a physical medium. However. modern cosmological theories based on quantum field theory do not rule out the possibility that the inherent energy of the vacuum is greater than zero, in which case the concept of an ether pervading the vacuum may have more than metaphoric meaning.

Supposed matter above the air; the air itself.

A light, volatile, mobile, inflammable liquid, (C2H5)2O, of a characteristic aromatic odor, obtained by the distillation of alcohol with sulphuric acid, and hence called also sulphuric ether. It is a powerful solvent of fats, resins, and pyroxylin, but finds its chief use as an anæsthetic. Commonly called ethyl ether to distinguish it from other ethers, and also ethyl oxide.

A colorless volatile highly inflammable liquid formerly used as an inhalation anesthetic

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

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

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