Sylph

Sylph, in the system of Paracelsus, a spirit of the air. Sylphs are of the male sex, and resemble men in appearance, and in all other respects, except that they possess no soul. It was considered possible that they should intermarry with the daughters of men, and the offspring of such unions belonged to the mother's race, not to the father's. Pope introduced sylphs into his Rape of the Lock, and probab1y brought the term into general use, though it is now usually applied to a graceful girl or young woman.