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mermaid

American  
[mur-meyd] / ˈmɜrˌmeɪd /

noun

  1. (in folklore) a female marine creature, having the head, torso, and arms of a woman and the tail of a fish.

  2. a highly skilled female swimmer.

mermaid British  
/ ˈmɜːˌmeɪd /

noun

  1. an imaginary sea creature fabled to have a woman's head and upper body and a fish's tail

"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
mermaid Cultural  

  1. A legendary marine creature with the head and torso of a woman and the tail of a fish; the masculine, less well-known equivalent is a merman. Though linked to the classical Sirens, mermaids may be nothing more than sailors' fanciful reports of the playful antics of dugongs or manatees.

Etymology

Origin of mermaid

First recorded in 1300–50, mermaid is from the Middle English word mermayde. See mere 2, maid

Explanation

A mermaid is mythical sea creature that has the head and upper body of a woman and a tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in folklore from around the world, from the ancient Greek sirens who were said to lure sailors to a watery death, to the Mami Wata water spirits from African mythology. The Disney version of mermaids comes from the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Little Mermaid," about a mermaid who trades her life in the sea for love with a human. Mermaid means "maid of the sea," from mere, "sea" in Middle English.

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Vocabulary lists containing mermaid

A Mythical Menagerie

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Of course, some of what he exhibited for his patrons had nothing to do with the real world—like his infamous Fiji mermaid, purportedly half monkey, half fish.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 2026

And if you’re really lucky, maybe you’ll find a mermaid.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2025

Here she sang it while standing in a glittering mermaid gown that seemed to make it impossible for her to move — some kind of metaphor for the gilded cage of a celebrity romance.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025

It is amusing to see young Reubens in drag as a kid at Halloween, or playing a Cher-inspired mermaid in a video he made while at college.

From Salon • Jan. 30, 2025

“Straight down when you see the sunken ship. Then about one mile east, past the mermaid graveyard, you will start to see fires burning. “You’re giving him directions to the forges?”

From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.