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.

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.

Topics