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dryad

[drahy-uh d, -ad]
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noun, plural dry·ads, dry·a·des [drahy-uh-deez] /ˈdraɪ əˌdiz/. (often initial capital letter) Classical Mythology.
  1. a deity or nymph of the woods.
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Compare hamadryad.

Origin of dryad

1545–55; extracted from Greek Dryádes, plural of Dryás, derivative of drŷ(s) tree, oak
Related formsdry·ad·ic [drahy-ad-ik] /draɪˈæd ɪk/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dryad

Historical Examples

  • It was a dressing-room for a nymph of the woods, for a dryad, for Diana herself.

    The Innocent Adventuress

    Mary Hastings Bradley

  • He bit his tongue painfully in covering that slip, but Dryad had not seemed to notice it.

  • Though—but tell me about the Dryad who was engaged to be married.

    The Longest Journey

    E. M. Forster

  • All his life he longed to see the dryad whom he had lost for ever.

  • Knock at the rough rind of this ilex-tree, and summon forth the Dryad!

    The Marble Faun, Volume I.

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

British Dictionary definitions for dryad

dryad

noun plural -ads or -ades (-əˌdiːz)
  1. Greek myth a nymph or divinity of the woods
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Derived Formsdryadic (draɪˈædɪk), adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Latin Dryas, from Greek Druas, from drus tree
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dryad

n.

1550s, from Latin dryas, from Greek dryas (plural dryades) "wood nymph," from drus (genitive dryos) "oak," from PIE *deru- "tree, wood, oak" (see tree (n.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper