mermaid
Americannoun
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mermaids
plural
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(in folklore) a female marine creature, having the head, torso, and arms of a woman and the tail of a fish.
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a highly skilled female swimmer.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing mermaid
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.
See Examples For:
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
That could mean a classic A-line or ballgown for the ceremony with a shift to mermaid cut, column or mini dress for later events, she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025
Knight wore a crisp red pantsuit with glittering figure-eight earrings, Mills an off-the-shoulder mermaid gown.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 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
“Hans Christian Andersen bartered with a mermaid who lived in the cold waters of the Odense Fjord.”
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Have warm feelings toward Copenhagen’s favorite son, Hans Christian Andersen, and his little tales about lovelorn mermaids and ugly ducklings?
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
"She fixed in my mind a love of mermaids," said Pratchett.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2023
At the beginning of the film, we're introduced to a rainbow collection of mermaids, from Asian to African – in what made-up a kind of all lives matter pool of mermaids.
From Salon ● May 31, 2023
Mythical hybrid beasts such as mermaids, centaurs and chimeras testify to our enduring fascination with the plasticity of biological form: the idea that natural organisms can mutate or be reconfigured.
From Scientific American ● May 31, 2023
He’s decorated our bathroom in red and orange, with purple mermaids swimming on the walls, and hooked up the toilet seat so that it plays “Jingle Bells” when it’s raised.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
