nymph

American  

[nimf] / nɪmf /

noun

1. one of a numerous class of lesser deities of mythology, conceived of as beautiful maidens inhabiting the sea, rivers, woods, trees, mountains, meadows, etc., and frequently mentioned as attending a superior deity.

   Synonyms:

   hamadryad, dryad, oread, naiad

2. a beautiful or graceful young woman.

3. a maiden.

4. the young of an insect that undergoes incomplete metamorphosis.

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nymph British  

/ nɪmf, ˈnɪmfɪən /

noun

1. myth a spirit of nature envisaged as a beautiful maiden

2. poetic a beautiful young woman

3. the immature form of some insects, such as the dragonfly and mayfly, and certain arthropods. Nymphs resemble the adult, apart from having underdeveloped reproductive organs and (in the case of insects) wings, and develop into the adult without a pupal stage

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nymph Scientific  

/ nĭmf /

1. The immature form of those insects that do not pass through a pupal stage. Nymphs usually resemble the adults, but are smaller, lack fully developed wings, and are sexually immature.

2. Compare imago larva pupa

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Related Words

See sylph.

Other Word Forms

• nymphal adjective
• nymphean adjective
• nymphlike adjective
• unnymphal adjective
• unnymphean adjective

Etymology

Origin of nymph

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English nimphe, from Latin nympha, from Greek nýmphē “bride, nymph”

Example Sentences

Hidden in plain sight, an ambush bug nymph waits motionless inside a flower in Michigan.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

Echo is presumably the tragic nymph of mythology who was cursed by Hera to be little more than a voice that could only repeat the last words spoken to her.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026

Many humans are infected when they’re nipped by nymph ticks, a period in their life cycle when they’re roughly the size of a poppy seed and barely visible to the naked eye.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 18, 2025

The Pleiades myth describes the seven daughters of the titan Atlas and nymph Pleione.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2024

Zeus appointed him director of Camp Half-Blood to dry out for a hundred years—a punishment for chasing some off-limits wood nymph.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan