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.

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mermaid British  

/ ˈmɜːˌmeɪd /

noun

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

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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.

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Etymology

Origin of mermaid

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

Example Sentences

After listing Oppenheimer’s wartime accomplishments, including overseeing the invention of the plutonium bomb, Rabi asked the inquisitors, “What more do you want, mermaids?”

From Los Angeles Times

Occasionally a herd of hippocamps would come and swim alongside the boats, or a mermaid would approach a fisherman, playing a tune on a flute made from a razor clam.

From Literature

My boy is such a traditional boy, and then the girls want to dress up like mermaids and princesses.

From Los Angeles Times

We stay in the sea for hours pretending we are mermaids, and when we finally come out, our skin is all wrinkly.

From Literature

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

Related Words

• gnome
• goblin
• imp
• leprechaun