nymph

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈnɪmf/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English nimphe,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French nimphe,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride, young wife; nymph”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} It is usually said to be related to Latin nūbere “to marry” (see nuptial), though Beekes suggests a pre-Greek origin.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In classical mythology, one of a class of semi-divine female beings imagined as beautiful maidens living in the sea, rivers, woods and mountains (about 1385 in Barnhart; 1390 in the OED).^[3][8][4]

Semantic evolution

Greek númphē meant first a bride or young wife, then a beautiful young woman, then a nature spirit in the form of a maiden.^[4][7] In English the sense “young and beautiful woman, maiden” is recorded from 1584, probably under the influence of the Greek meanings.^[8][3][4] The insect sense, the stage between larva and adult, already existed in Greek and Latin and appears in English in the 1570s.^[4][8][7] The OED records a fishing fly imitating such larvae from 1910.^[8] Classical nymphs included dryads, naiads, nereids and oreads.^[4]

Timeline

• about 1385 – a nature spirit of mythology.^[3][8]
• 1577 – an insect between larva and adult.^[8]
• 1584 – a beautiful young woman.^[8][3]
• 1910 – an artificial fishing fly.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of numerous minor deities of classical mythology, represented as beautiful maidens inhabiting and personifying features of nature such as trees, waters and mountains.
2. A girl or young woman, especially a beautiful one.
3. The young of an insect that undergoes incomplete metamorphosis, such as a grasshopper or mayfly, resembling the adult but lacking fully developed wings.

Word family

• nymphal
• nymphet
• water nymph

Related words

• lymph
• nymphaeum
• nympho
• nymphomania
• nuptial
• naiad
• dryad

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press