dryad

[drahy-uh d, -ad]

See more synonyms for dryad on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural dry·ads, dry·a·des

[drahy-uh-deez] /ˈdraɪ əˌdiz/. (often initial capital letter) Classical Mythology.

a deity or nymph of the woods.

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

Related Words for dryad

fairy, spirit, goddess, sprite, naiad, nymphet, sylph, dryad, mermaid

Examples from the Web for dryad

Historical Examples of dryad

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.
Once to Every Man
Larry Evans
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.
The Book of Stories for the Storyteller
Fanny E. Coe
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)

Greek myth a nymph or divinity of the woods

Derived Formsdryadic (draɪˈædɪk), adjective

Word Origin for dryad

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

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.)).