‖ aura
(ˈɔːrə)
[L., a. Gr. αὔρα breath, breeze.]
1. A gentle breeze, a zephyr.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xi. xv. (1495) 400 Aura is lyghte wynde meuyd. 1635 Swan Spec. M. v. §2 (1643) 88 Such a gale as is commonly called Aura. 1731 in Bailey. |
2. a. A subtle emanation or exhalation from any substance, e.g. the aroma of blood, the odour of flowers, etc.
| 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. II. 35 After which [i.e. the flying off of the volatile salt or spirit] the Oil remains dry and insipid, but without any sensible diminution of its weight, by the loss of that volatile essence of the soul, that æthereal aura. 1836 Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 466/2 Fecundation is attributable to the agency of an aura from..the seminal fluid. |
b. fig. Also, a distinctive impression of character or aspect.
| 1859 J. Holland Gold Foil 110 Wrapped in the aura of his ineffable love. 1876 Emerson Ess. Ser. ii. i. 28 The condition of true naming, on the poet's part, is his resigning himself to the divine aura which breathes through forms. 1901 Harper's Mag. XLI. 808/2 Tragedy is as old as story-writing itself—the aura thereof being the very breath of every great drama since Eden. 1921 Glasgow Herald 25 Aug. 5 The genteel aura of the upper circle. 1959 Economist 27 June 1164/2 No such charges were brought against Mr Strauss, though his Wall Street aura rankles with progressive Democrats. |
c. A supposed subtle emanation from and enveloping living persons and things, viewed by mystics as consisting of the essence of the individual, serving as the medium for the operation of mesmeric and similar influences. So ˈaural a.3
| 1870 P. B. Randolph Seership! (1884) 77 Peculiar substances can be charged with the efflux or aura of the human being. 1918 Violet Tweedale Veiled Woman vii. 83 [His] personality happens to be very distasteful to me. Our auras don't blend. 1920 Rose Macaulay Potterism iii. i, Unless..the immortal soul wraps itself about in some aural vapour that takes the form it wore on earth. |
3. Electr. † a. = Electrical atmosphere: see atmosphere n. 3 (obs.). b. The current of air caused by the discharge of electricity from a sharp point, e.g. from those of the electrical whirl.
| 1737 Franklin Lett. Wks. 1840 VI. 2 Divers species of earthquakes, according to the different position, quantity, etc., of this imprisoned aura. 1810 Coleridge Friend vi. vii. (1867) 317 A fourth composes the electrical aura of oxygen, hydrogen, and caloric. 1863 Atkinson Ganot's Physics §742 On approaching the hand to the whirl while in motion, a slight draught is felt, due to the movement of the electrified air..This draught or wind is known as the electrical aura. |
4. Path. A sensation, as of a current of cold air rising from some part of the body to the head, which occurs as a premonitory symptom in epilepsy and hysterics.
| 1776–83 Cullen First Lines (1827) II. 424 Aura Epileptica. 1875 H. Wood Therap. (1879) 353 The patient should..inhale it at once whenever the aura is felt. |