also: あそぶいと
noun
gossamer; floating spider silk
Only with reading ゆうし
Refers to fine spider silk drifting in the air, often seen in autumn. A poetic and somewhat literary word.
秋の野に遊糸が風に揺れている。
Gossamer threads are swaying in the wind over the autumn field.
noun
heat haze; shimmer of hot air
Archaic usage; in modern Japanese, 陽炎 (かげろう) is the standard word for heat haze.
古い和歌では、遊糸が陽炎の意味で詠まれることがある。
In old waka poems, 遊糸 is sometimes used to mean heat haze.
The modern standard word for heat haze, replacing the archaic sense of 遊糸.
The kanji 遊 (play, float) and 糸 (thread) combine to suggest floating threads. The reading ゆうし is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi, while あそぶいと is a rare kun'yomi reading. The historical derivation of the archaic 'heat haze' sense is uncertain.