Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Period of
calm during thewinter , when storms do not occur. - noun idiomatic A period of calm, often nostalgic: “halcyon days of yore”, “halcyon days of youth”.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Latin Alcyone, 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 made the waves be calm during seven days in each year, so she could lay her eggs. These became known as the "halcyon days", when storms never occur.
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Examples
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icco commented on the word halcyon days
Period of calm during the winter, when storms do not occur.
September 20, 2007
mialuthien commented on the word halcyon days
= a nostalgic and idealistic reference to a perfect time in one's life
July 25, 2008