nymph

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   in classical mythology, a female spirit associated with a natural place such as a spring, forest, or mountain

   The poem imagines a nymph guarding the clear woodland pool.

2. 2
   noun

   the immature stage of an insect that undergoes incomplete metamorphosis and resembles a smaller adult

   The dragonfly nymph lived underwater before emerging as an adult.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Nymph entered Middle English through Latin and French from Greek numphē, which could mean either “bride” or a semidivine spirit associated with a place. Greek and Latin also used the word for an immature insect, a sense recorded in English from the late 16th century.

From Middle English nimphe, through Old French and Latin nympha, from Greek nymphē, 'bride, young woman, or minor goddess.' Natural-history writers later applied the mythological name to an immature insect, especially one associated with water.

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External links

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