hamadryad

American  

[ham-uh-drahy-uhd, -ad] / ˌhæm əˈdraɪ əd, -æd /

noun

plural

hamadryads, hamadryades

1. Classical Mythology. a dryad who is the spirit of a particular tree.

2. king cobra.

---

hamadryad British  

/ ˌhæməˈdraɪəd, -æd /

noun

1. classical myth one of a class of nymphs, each of which inhabits a tree and dies with it

2. another name for king cobra

---

Etymology

Origin of hamadryad

< Latin, stem of Hamādryas wood nymph < Greek, equivalent to hama together with (cognate with same ) + dryás dryad

Example Sentences

“A hamadryad is a wood-nymph, also a poisonous snake in India, and an Abyssinian baboon,” Hermes points out.

From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2010

If the gentle hamadryad which, for aught I know, still dwelleth in every living tree, saw this gross affront, there were utterances which were nigh unto cursing.

From A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed. by Bartlett, William Chauncey

"A barb steeped in the venom of a hamadryad went in there!"

From The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu by Rohmer, Sax

The hamadryad, as you probably know, is perhaps the deadliest of all Eastern reptiles.

From Where the Strange Trails Go Down Sulu, Borneo, Celebes, Bali, Java, Sumatra, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Cambodia, Annam, Cochin-China by Powell, E. Alexander (Edward Alexander)

But when they raised her from the floor they discovered the real cause of her death, for a second hamadryad, which had been concealed by her skirts, darted noiselessly under the bed.

From Where the Strange Trails Go Down Sulu, Borneo, Celebes, Bali, Java, Sumatra, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Cambodia, Annam, Cochin-China by Powell, E. Alexander (Edward Alexander)