Nymph
noun, verb
noun, verb ·1 syllable ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any female nature spirit associated with water, forests, grotto, wind, etc. Greek, Roman
- 2 a larva of an insect with incomplete metamorphosis (as the dragonfly or mayfly) wordnet
- 3 A young girl, especially one who is attractive, beautiful or graceful.
- 4 (classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually depicted as a beautiful maiden wordnet
- 5 The larva of certain insects.
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- 6 a voluptuously beautiful young woman wordnet
- 7 Any of various butterflies of the family Nymphalidae.
Verb
- 1 To fish using a nymph larva as bait.
"Kuster meanwhile nymphed the middle of the Snag. When I joined him, I threw my streamer between the main channel's flow and the skinnier side-channel flow, […]"
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Tom is a centaur and Mary is a nymph."
Etymology
From Middle English nimphe, from Old English nymphē and Old French nimphe, both from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”), from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride”). Doublet of nympha.