nymph

noun, verb — 5 senses

nymph

noun

UK, US /ˈnɪmf/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *snewbʰ- Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē)der. Latin nymphader. Old French nimphebor. Middle English nimphe English nymph From Middle English nimphe, from Old English nymphē and Old French nimphe, both from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”), from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride”). Doublet of nympha.

1

Human sciences, Mysticism, Mythology, Philosophy, Sciences Greek, Roman Any female nature spirit associated with water, forests, grottos, wind, etc.

2

A young girl, especially one who is attractive, beautiful or graceful.

3

Biology, Entomology, Natural sciences The larva of certain insects.

4

Biology, Entomology, Natural sciences Any of various butterflies of the family Nymphalidae.

Derived terms
31 termsdeutonymph, flymph, jungle nymph, mountain-nymph, nymphal, nymphet, nymphette, nymphic, nymphicidal, nymphicide, nymphine, nymphiparous, nymphish, nymphlike, nymphly, nymph of darkness, nymph of the pavé, nymph of the pavement, nymphoid, nymphology, nymphosis, ocean-nymph, pronymph, protonymph, river-nymph, sea-nymph, seminymph, tree nymph, tritonymph, water nymph, woodnymph
Related terms
lymph, nymphaeum, nympho, nymphomania, nymphomaniac, sylph

nymph

verb
Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *snewbʰ- Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē)der. Latin nymphader. Old French nimphebor. Middle English nimphe English nymph From Middle English nimphe, from Old English nymphē and Old French nimphe, both from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”), from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride”). Doublet of nympha.

1

Fishing, Hobbies, Lifestyle To fish using a nymph larva as bait.

  • Kuster meanwhile nymphed the middle of the Snag. When I joined him, I threw my streamer between the main channel's flow and the skinnier side-channel flow, […]2019, James W. White, Fly-fishing the Arctic Circle to Tasmania, page 253:
Related terms
alseid, auloniad, crinaeae, limnade, meliae, napaeae, oceanid, oread, pegaeae, dryads, hamadryad, naiad, nereid, Hesperides

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.