nymph English · revision 798

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈnɪmf/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|nimphe]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|fro|nimphe]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|la|nympha|t=nymph, bride]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|grc|νύμφη|tr=númphē|t=bride, young wife; nymph]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) It is usually said to be related to Latin ''nūbere'' “to marry” (see [[nuptial]]), though Beekes suggests a pre-Greek origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==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).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) In English the sense “young and beautiful woman, maiden” is recorded from 1584, probably under the influence of the Greek meanings.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The insect sense, the stage between larva and adult, already existed in Greek and Latin and appears in English in the 1570s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) The OED records a fishing fly imitating such larvae from 1910.^(OED 1989) Classical nymphs included dryads, naiads, nereids and oreads.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1385 – a nature spirit of mythology.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1577 – an insect between larva and adult.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1584 – a beautiful young woman.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1910 – an artificial fishing fly.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of numerous minor [[deity|alt=deities]] of classical mythology, represented as beautiful maidens inhabiting and personifying features of nature such as trees, waters and mountains.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A girl or young woman, especially a beautiful one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The young of an insect that undergoes incomplete [[metamorphosis]], such as a grasshopper or mayfly, resembling the adult but lacking fully developed wings.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nymphal]]

+ * [[nymphet]]

+ * [[water nymph]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lymph]]

+ * [[nymphaeum]]

+ * [[nympho]]

+ * [[nymphomania]]

+ * [[nuptial]]

+ * [[naiad]]

+ * [[dryad]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}