naiad

American  

[ney-ad, -uhd, nahy-] / ˈneɪ æd, -əd, ˈnaɪ- /

noun

plural

naiads, naiades

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) any of a class of nymphs presiding over rivers and springs.

2. the juvenile form of the dragonfly, damselfly, or mayfly.

3. a female swimmer, especially an expert one.

4. Botany. a plant of the genus Najas, having narrow leaves and solitary flowers.

5. Entomology. an aquatic nymph.

6. a freshwater mussel.

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naiad British  

/ ˈnaɪæd /

noun

1. Greek myth a nymph dwelling in a lake, river, spring, or fountain

2. the aquatic larva of the dragonfly, mayfly, and related insects

3. Also called: water nymph.  any monocotyledonous submerged aquatic plant of the genus Naias (or Najas ), having narrow leaves and small flowers: family Naiadaceae (or Najadaceae )

4. any of certain freshwater mussels of the genus Unio See mussel

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Etymology

Origin of naiad

< Latin Nāïad- (stem of Nāïas ) < Greek Nāïás a water nymph

Example Sentences

And now, as played with fierce physicality and grueling commitment by Annette Bening, Diana is a movie character: an impossible person who achieved the impossible, a naiad whose truer mythological counterpart might be Narcissus.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2023

I’d forgotten Cyane, the naiad, who rises from the river to beg Pluto not to take Proserpine.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2022

‘To these she is ever present, the spirit of Nature—a sprite of the meadow, a naiad of lakes, a nymph of the woods.’

From Slate • Mar. 4, 2012

Leighton set his youthful figure — a classical nymph or naiad — in a Mediterranean setting.

From Washington Post

She was beautiful as a nymph or a naiad.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton