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Origin and history of nymph

nymph(n.)

late 14c., nimphe, "one of a class of semi-divine female beings in classical mythology," imagined as beautiful maidens, eternally young, from Old French nimphe (13c.) and directly from Latin nympha "nymph, demi-goddess; bride, mistress, young woman," from Greek nymphē "bride, young wife," later "beautiful young woman," then "semi-divine being in the form of a beautiful maiden." This is usually said to be related to Latin nubere "to marry, wed" (see nuptial), but Beekes suggests a Pre-Greek origin.

The sense in English of "young and attractive woman" is attested by 1580s. The meaning "insect stage between larva and adult" is recorded from 1570s. Related: Nymphal; nymphean.

Sub-groups include dryads, hamadryads, naiads, nereids, and oreads.

Nympharumque leves cum Satyris chori
[Horace]


also from late 14c.

Entries linking to nymph

nuptial(adj.)

"of or pertaining to marriage or the wedding ceremony," late 15c., from French nuptial, or directly from Latin nuptialis "pertaining to marriage," from nuptiae "a wedding," from nupta, fem. past participle of nubere "to marry, get married, wed, take as a husband," which is of uncertain origin. Perhaps it is from a PIE root *sneubh- "to marry, wed" (source also of Old Church Slavonic snubiti "to love, woo," Czech snoubiti "to seek in marriage," Slovak zasnubit "to betroth"). De Vaan finds the old theory that the verb nubere is literally "to cover, veil oneself" (as a bride) semantically attractive but unproven (compare Latin obnubere "to veil, cover the head," from nubes "cloud"). Related: Nuptially.

Nuptial number, a number obscurely described at the beginning of the eighth book of the "Republic" of Plato, and said to preside over the generation of men. The number meant may be 864. [Century Dictionary]
nymphette(n.)

also nymphet, nymphete, "sexually attractive young girl," 1955, introduced by Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) in his novel "Lolita" to describe an alluring (in the minds of some men) girl age 9 to 14; from nymph + diminutive suffix. Nymphet was used from 17c. in sense "a little nymph," but this was poetic only by late 19c.

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nympholepsy
"frenzy or rapture supposed to take hold of a man upon gazing on a nymph," 1775, coined by Richard Chandler, in "Travels in Greece," from nymph, on model of epilepsy, with second element from stem of Greek lambanein "to take." Sometimes used in an extended, general sense of "ecst
nymphomania
"morbid and uncontrollable sexual desire in women," 1775, in English translation of "Nymphomania, or a Dissertation Concerning the Furor Uterinus" (1771) by French doctor Jean Baptiste Louis de Thesacq de Bienville (1726-1813), coined from Greek nymphē "bride, young wife, young l
Naiad
in Greek and Roman mythology, "water nymph," one of the female deities presiding over springs and streams, c. 1600, from...Latin Nais, Naias (genitive naiadis), from Greek Naias (plural Naiades) "river nymph," from naiein "to flow," from PIE *naw-yo...
hamadryad
late 14c., from Greek hamadryas (plural hamadryades) "wood-nymph," fabled to die with her tree, from hama "together with"...(from PIE root *sem- (1) "one; as one, together with") + dryas (plural dryades) "wood nymph," from drus (genitive dryos)...
mint
High German minza, German Minze), a borrowing from Latin menta, mentha "mint," itself from Greek minthē, personified as a nymph...
lymph
clear water, a goddess of water," variant of lumpæ "waters," altered by influence of Greek nymphē "goddess of a spring, nymph...
echo
14c., "sound repeated by reflection," from Latin echo, from Greek ēkhō, personified in classical mythology as a mountain nymph...
Hesperides
1590s, from Greek, "daughters of the Hesperus," name given to the nymphs (variously numbered but originally three) who tended the garden with the golden apples. Their name has been mistakenly transferred to the garden itself. The Gardens of the Hesperides with the golden apples
Pleiades
late 14c., Pliades, "visible open star cluster in the constellation Taurus," in Greek mythology they represent the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, transformed by Zeus into seven stars. From Latin Pleiades, from Greek Pleiades (singular Plēias), perhaps literally "constellat
adore
late 14c., aouren, "to worship, pay divine honors to, bow down before," from Old French aorer "to adore, worship, praise" (10c., later adorer), from Latin adorare "speak to formally, beseech, entreat, ask in prayer," in Late Latin "to worship," literally "to call to," from ad "to

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