halcyon

English

Alternative forms

• alcyon

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Alceoun, from Latin halcyōn, alcyōn (“kingfisher”), from Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhælsi.ən/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈhælʃən/, /ˈhælʃi.ən/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

halcyon (plural halcyons)

1. (poetic) A kingfisher whose nesting by the sea was said, in classical mythology, to cause the Gods to restrain the wind and waves.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes , book II, London: Val Simmes for Edward Blount , →OCLC:

     the Halcyon bird, or as some call it Alcedo or Kings-fisher, exceeds all mens conceit. […] Gods decree hath been, that all the watrie wildernesse should be quiet and made calme, without raine, wind, or tempest, during the time the Halcyon sitteth and bringeth forth her young-ones […]

   • 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. , London: J M for H Herringman , published 1667, →OCLC, Act IV, scene iv, page 51:

     Amidſt our Arms as quiet you ſhall be / As Halcyons Brooding on a Winter Sea.

   • c. 1880, Ambrose Bierce, On a Mountain:

     And, by the way, during those halcyon days (the halcyon was there, too, chattering above every creek, as he is all over the world) we fought another battle.

   1. The dead body of such a bird, said in Tudor times to act as a weather vane when hung from a beam.
      • c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. , London: I B for Nicholas Vavasour, , published 1633, →OCLC, Act I, signature B2, recto:

        But novv hovv ſtands the vvind? / Into vvhat corner peeres my Halcions bill?

      • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

        Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks / With every gale and vary of their master

2. A tropical kingfisher of the genus Halcyon, such as the sacred kingfisher (Halcyon sancta) of Australia.

Translations

Adjective

halcyon (comparative more halcyon, superlative most halcyon)

1. Pertaining to the halcyon or kingfisher.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 84:

     Renege; affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks / With every gale and vary of their masters,

2. (figurative) Calm, undisturbed, peaceful, serene.

   Synonyms: at peace, blissful, calm, peaceful, prelapsarian, relaxed, serene; see also Thesaurus:quiet

   • 1787, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers No. 30:

     Reflections of this kind may have trifling weight with men who hope to see realized in America the halcyon scenes of the poetic or fabulous age.

   • 1842, Thomas De Quincey, Cicero:

     Deep, halcyon repose.

   • 1919, H.P. Lovecraft, The City:

     I had wander’d in rapture beneath them, and bask’d in the Halcyon clime.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when modish taste was just due to go clean out of fashion for the best part of the next hundred years.

Derived terms

• halcyon days

Related terms

• Alcyone

Translations

References

Latin

Alternative forms

• alcyōn

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn, “kingfisher”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈhal.ky.oːn/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.t͡ʃi.on/,

Noun

halcyōn f (genitive halcyonis); third declension

1. The halcyon; kingfisher.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Synonyms

• (kingfisher, halcyon): alcēdō

Related terms

• alcēdō
• Alcyonē