Nymph

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈnɪmf/

Definitions

1. A mythical maiden deity of natural realms like forests and waters, or an intermediate insect stage between larva and adult form
2. A supernatural female being dwelling in nature's domains alongside an undeveloped insect phase characterized by partial wing formation
3. A female spirit from mythology that inhabits natural settings such as woods or rivers ; a developmental phase of certain insects where the creature resembles an adult but is not fully mature

Etymology: The Greek word "númphē" originally meant "bride" or "young married woman" before it came to mean a minor goddess of woods, streams and meadows. The bride sense is the older one, and it survives in the Latin "nympha," which could still mean a bride as well as a nymph. The Greek root is linked to the idea of marriageable youth, so the mythological spirits were named after the young women of the household rather than the other way round. English received the word twice, by two routes. It arrived in Old English as "nymphē" and again through Old French as "nimphe," which later gave Middle English "nimphe." The two forms are doublets: one came directly from Latin, the other through French, and both trace back to the same Latin "nympha." The English word therefore carries two layers of borrowing from the same source.

Synonyms: fairy, sprite, divinity