"halcyon days" meaning in English

See halcyon days in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈhælsiːən deɪz/
Etymology: From halcyon, from Latin Alcyone, from Ancient Greek Ἀλκυόνη (Alkuónē), daughter of Aeolus and wife of Ceyx. When her husband died in a shipwreck, Alcyone threw herself into the sea whereupon the gods transformed them both into halcyon birds (kingfishers). When Alcyone made her nest on the beach, waves threatened to destroy it. Aeolus restrained his winds and kept them calm during seven days in each year, so she could lay her eggs. These became known as the "halcyon days," when storms do not occur. Today, the term is used to denote a past period that is being remembered for being happy and/or successful. Etymology templates: {{m|en|halcyon}} halcyon, {{der|en|la|Alcyone}} Latin Alcyone, {{der|en|grc|Ἀλκυόνη}} Ancient Greek Ἀλκυόνη (Alkuónē) Head templates: {{en-noun|p|head=halcyon days}} halcyon days pl (plural only)
  1. Period of calm during the winter, when storms do not occur. Tags: plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-halcyon_days-en-noun-CXizGqXz
  2. (idiomatic) A period of calm, usually in the past and often nostalgic. Tags: idiomatic, plural, plural-only Categories (topical): Nostalgia Related terms: Alcyone, back in the day, days of wine and roses, days of yore, halcyon, heyday, nostalgia, salad days Translations (halcyon days): 美好嘅日子 (mei³ hou² ge³ jat⁶ zi²) (Chinese Cantonese), Rustig weer (alt: 1) (Dutch), Vredige tijden (alt: 2) (Dutch), jäälinnun päivät [plural] (Finnish), jours heureux [masculine, plural] (French), Halkyonische Tage [plural] (German), αλκυονίδες ημέρες (alkyonídes iméres) [feminine, plural] (Greek), boldog békeidők (Hungarian), giorni alcionii [masculine, plural] (Italian), alcēdōnia [neuter, plural] (Latin), días tranquilos [masculine, plural] (Spanish), glada dagar [plural] (Swedish), sötebrödsdagar [plural] (Swedish), безтурботні часи (bezturbotni časy) (Ukrainian), những ngày thanh bình (Vietnamese)
    Sense id: en-halcyon_days-en-noun-cD3Xecy1 Disambiguation of Nostalgia: 20 80 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English pluralia tantum Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 81 Disambiguation of English pluralia tantum: 19 81 Disambiguation of 'halcyon days': 41 59

Download JSON data for halcyon days meaning in English (5.7kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "halcyon"
      },
      "expansion": "halcyon",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "Alcyone"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin Alcyone",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "Ἀλκυόνη"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek Ἀλκυόνη (Alkuónē)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From halcyon, from Latin Alcyone, from Ancient Greek Ἀλκυόνη (Alkuónē), daughter of Aeolus and wife of Ceyx. When her husband died in a shipwreck, Alcyone threw herself into the sea whereupon the gods transformed them both into halcyon birds (kingfishers). When Alcyone made her nest on the beach, waves threatened to destroy it. Aeolus restrained his winds and kept them calm during seven days in each year, so she could lay her eggs. These became known as the \"halcyon days,\" when storms do not occur. Today, the term is used to denote a past period that is being remembered for being happy and/or successful.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "p",
        "head": "halcyon days"
      },
      "expansion": "halcyon days pl (plural only)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Period of calm during the winter, when storms do not occur."
      ],
      "id": "en-halcyon_days-en-noun-CXizGqXz",
      "links": [
        [
          "calm",
          "calm"
        ],
        [
          "winter",
          "winter"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English pluralia tantum",
          "parents": [
            "Pluralia tantum",
            "Nouns",
            "Lemmas"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 80",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Nostalgia",
          "orig": "en:Nostalgia",
          "parents": [
            "Emotions",
            "History",
            "Memory",
            "Mind",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "halcyon days of yore",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "halcyon days of youth",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1880, Ambrose Bierce, On a Mountain",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1891, Walt Whitman, “Halcyon Days”, in Leaves of Grass",
          "text": "Then for the teeming quietest, happiest days of all! / The brooding and blissful halcyon days!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 2, in This Side of Paradise, book 1",
          "text": "It was a halcyon day, and as they neared the shore and the salt breezes scurried by, he began to picture the ocean and long, level stretches of sand and red roofs over blue sea.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1941, Thomas S. Eliot, “The Dry Salvages”, in Four Quartets",
          "text": "And the ragged rock in the restless waters, / Waves wash over it, fogs conceal it; / On a halcyon day it is merely a monument, / In navigable weather is always a seamark / to lay a course by: but in the sombre season / Or the sudden fury, is what it always was.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A period of calm, usually in the past and often nostalgic."
      ],
      "id": "en-halcyon_days-en-noun-cD3Xecy1",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A period of calm, usually in the past and often nostalgic."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "word": "Alcyone"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "word": "back in the day"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "word": "days of wine and roses"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "word": "days of yore"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "word": "halcyon"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "word": "heyday"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "word": "nostalgia"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "word": "salad days"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "mei³ hou² ge³ jat⁶ zi²",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "word": "美好嘅日子"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "alt": "1",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "word": "Rustig weer"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "alt": "2",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "word": "Vredige tijden"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "tags": [
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "jäälinnun päivät"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "jours heureux"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "tags": [
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "Halkyonische Tage"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "alkyonídes iméres",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "αλκυονίδες ημέρες"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "word": "boldog békeidők"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "giorni alcionii"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "tags": [
            "neuter",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "alcēdōnia"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "días tranquilos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "tags": [
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "glada dagar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "tags": [
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "sötebrödsdagar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "bezturbotni časy",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "word": "безтурботні часи"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "41 59",
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "halcyon days",
          "word": "những ngày thanh bình"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhælsiːən deɪz/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "halcyon days"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English eponyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English pluralia tantum",
    "English terms derived from Ancient Greek",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "en:Nostalgia"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "halcyon"
      },
      "expansion": "halcyon",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "Alcyone"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin Alcyone",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "Ἀλκυόνη"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek Ἀλκυόνη (Alkuónē)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From halcyon, from Latin Alcyone, from Ancient Greek Ἀλκυόνη (Alkuónē), daughter of Aeolus and wife of Ceyx. When her husband died in a shipwreck, Alcyone threw herself into the sea whereupon the gods transformed them both into halcyon birds (kingfishers). When Alcyone made her nest on the beach, waves threatened to destroy it. Aeolus restrained his winds and kept them calm during seven days in each year, so she could lay her eggs. These became known as the \"halcyon days,\" when storms do not occur. Today, the term is used to denote a past period that is being remembered for being happy and/or successful.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "p",
        "head": "halcyon days"
      },
      "expansion": "halcyon days pl (plural only)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Alcyone"
    },
    {
      "word": "back in the day"
    },
    {
      "word": "days of wine and roses"
    },
    {
      "word": "days of yore"
    },
    {
      "word": "halcyon"
    },
    {
      "word": "heyday"
    },
    {
      "word": "nostalgia"
    },
    {
      "word": "salad days"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Period of calm during the winter, when storms do not occur."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "calm",
          "calm"
        ],
        [
          "winter",
          "winter"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "halcyon days of yore",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "halcyon days of youth",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1880, Ambrose Bierce, On a Mountain",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1891, Walt Whitman, “Halcyon Days”, in Leaves of Grass",
          "text": "Then for the teeming quietest, happiest days of all! / The brooding and blissful halcyon days!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 2, in This Side of Paradise, book 1",
          "text": "It was a halcyon day, and as they neared the shore and the salt breezes scurried by, he began to picture the ocean and long, level stretches of sand and red roofs over blue sea.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1941, Thomas S. Eliot, “The Dry Salvages”, in Four Quartets",
          "text": "And the ragged rock in the restless waters, / Waves wash over it, fogs conceal it; / On a halcyon day it is merely a monument, / In navigable weather is always a seamark / to lay a course by: but in the sombre season / Or the sudden fury, is what it always was.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A period of calm, usually in the past and often nostalgic."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A period of calm, usually in the past and often nostalgic."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhælsiːən deɪz/"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "mei³ hou² ge³ jat⁶ zi²",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "word": "美好嘅日子"
    },
    {
      "alt": "1",
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "word": "Rustig weer"
    },
    {
      "alt": "2",
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "word": "Vredige tijden"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "jäälinnun päivät"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "jours heureux"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "Halkyonische Tage"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "alkyonídes iméres",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "αλκυονίδες ημέρες"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "word": "boldog békeidők"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "giorni alcionii"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "tags": [
        "neuter",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "alcēdōnia"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "días tranquilos"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "glada dagar"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "sötebrödsdagar"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "bezturbotni časy",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "word": "безтурботні часи"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "halcyon days",
      "word": "những ngày thanh bình"
    }
  ],
  "word": "halcyon days"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.