Etymologically
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nympha

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈnym.pʰa][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnim.fa][1]

Forms

nympha f (genitive nymphae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride, nymph”).[2][3][1] A Greek form nymphē is also used.[2][4] Georges explains the Greek as “the veiled one”, comparing nūbō “to marry”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Livius Andronicus has “the nymph Calypso”.[2] Köbler dates him 280/260–before 200 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a nymph, a semi-divine spirit of woods and waters, as Cicero's temple of the Nymphs.[2] In poetry, following the Greek, it meant a bride or a young woman, as Ovid's wives bringing gifts for their husbands' safe return.[2][4] By metonymy it meant water or a spring, in Propertius and Martial.[7]

Pliny uses it of the pupa of bees and wasps.[2][5] English nymph was borrowed through Old French in the late 14th century.[8]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it of Calypso.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions the temple of the Nymphs.[2][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of brides.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the pupa of bees.[2][6]
  • late 14th century – English nymph is borrowed.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A nymph, a spirit of nature.[2][1]
  2. (poetic) A bride; a young woman.[2][1]
  3. (poetic) Water; a spring.[7]
  4. The pupa of an insect.[2][1]

Word family

  • nymphālis
  • nymphigena
  • nymphaea
  • nymphēum
  • lympha
  • English nymph

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com