# nymph

Pronunciation: say "NIMF" /ˈnɪmf/

## Noun

1. In Greek and Roman mythology, any female nature spirit linked with a place or force such as water, forests, grottoes, or wind.
   - Simple: In old Greek and Roman stories, a female spirit who lives in nature, such as in a river or forest.
   - _According to the myth, the spring was guarded by a nymph who punished anyone who muddied its water._
   - _The villa's garden had a marble nymph pouring water into the pool._
2. The young of insects such as mayflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers, which grow into adults gradually through a series of molts, with no pupal stage.
   - Simple: A young insect, such as a young dragonfly or grasshopper, that slowly grows into an adult without a resting stage.
   - _Mayfly nymphs spend months on the riverbed before emerging as winged adults._
   - _Each nymph molts several times as it grows._
3. A young woman or girl, especially an attractive, beautiful, or graceful one. *(literary)*
   - Simple: A young woman or girl, especially one who is pretty or moves gracefully.
5. Any of various butterflies belonging to the family Nymphalidae.
   - Simple: Any of many butterflies that belong to one family, the Nymphalidae.
   - _On summer afternoons, common wood nymphs flutter low through the meadow grass._
   - _The museum drawer held a row of tree nymph butterflies from Southeast Asia, each pinned and labeled._

## Verb

4. To fly-fish with an artificial nymph, a fly tied to imitate a young aquatic insect and usually fished below the surface.
   - Simple: To fish with a small lure made to look like a young insect, usually under the water.
   - _On cold spring days, the guide prefers to nymph the deep runs below the rapids._
   - _She spent the afternoon nymphing a slow pool and landed three brown trout._

## Origin

Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, "bride") gave Latin nympha ("nymph, bride"), which passed both into Old English as nymphē and into Old French as nimphe. Those led to Middle English nimphe. Nympha is a doublet.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/nymph (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).