halcyon days
/ˈhælsiən deɪz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.65 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "halcyon days of yore"
- "halcyon days of youth"
- "Expect Saint Martins summer, Halcyon dayes, / Since I haue entred into theſe Warres."
- "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."
- "Then for the teeming quietest, happiest days of all! / The brooding and blissful halcyon days!"
- "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."
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 or successful.
Origin
- Source language: Latin