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nympholept

[ nim-fuh-lept ]
/ ˈnɪm fəˌlɛpt /
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See synonyms for: nympholepts on Thesaurus.com

noun
a person seized with nympholepsy.
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Origin of nympholept

1805–15; <Greek nymphólēptos caught by nymphs, equivalent to nýmph(ē) nymph + -o--o- + lḗptos, verbid of lambánein to seize
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use nympholept in a sentence

  • And these things, and this divine homesickness led him, pale nympholept, beyond Earth's human shores.

  • With this delightful prayer, our humorous nympholept Longus begins his story.

    Essays on the Greek Romances|Elizabeth Hazelton Haight
  • Thanks to it—all thanks to it—I did not become a nympholept.

    Lore of Proserpine|Maurice Hewlett

British Dictionary definitions for nympholept

nympholept
/ (ˈnɪmfəˌlɛpt) /

noun
a person afflicted by nympholepsy

Word Origin for nympholept

C19: from Greek numpholēptos caught by nymphs, from numphē nymph + lambanein to seize
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
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