Nymph

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  nymph \nymph\ (n[i^]mf), n. [L. nympha nymph, bride, young
     woman, Gr. ny`mfh: cf. F. nymphe. Cf. {Nuptial}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Class. Myth.) A goddess of the mountains, forests,
        meadows, or waters.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorseless deep
              Closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas?
                                                    --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Hence: A lovely young girl; a maiden; a damsel.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Nymph, in thy orisons
              Be all my sins remembered.            --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Zool.) The pupa of an insect; a chrysalis.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Zool.) Any one of a subfamily (Najades) of butterflies
        including the purples, the fritillaries, the peacock
        butterfly, etc.; -- called also {naiad}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  nymph
       n 1: (classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually
            depicted as a beautiful maiden; "the ancient Greeks
            believed that nymphs inhabited forests and bodies of
            water"
       2: a larva of an insect with incomplete metamorphosis (as the
          dragonfly or mayfly)
       3: a voluptuously beautiful young woman [syn: {houri}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  58 Moby Thesaurus words for "nymph":
     Anlage, Atlantides, Hyades, Napaea, Pleiades, arachnid, arthropod,
     aurelia, beetle, blastula, bug, caterpillar, centipede, chilopod,
     chippy, chrysalis, cocoon, daddy longlegs, diplopod, dryad, embryo,
     fetus, floozy, flower nymph, fly, germ, germen, glen nymph,
     grisette, grub, hamadryad, harvestman, hexapod, insect, larva,
     limoniad, maggot, millepede, millipede, mite, mountain nymph,
     nympha, nymphet, nymphlin, oread, pupa, rudiment, scorpion, spider,
     tarantula, tick, tree nymph, vila, wiggler, willi, wood nymph,
     wriggler, zygote