paranymph

[par-uh-nimf]

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noun

a groomsman or a bridesmaid.

(in ancient Greece)

a friend who accompanied the bridegroom when he went to bring home the bride.
the bridesmaid who escorted the bride to the bridegroom.

RELATED WORDS

groomsman

Origin of paranymph

1585–95; < Late Latin paranymphus < Greek paránymphos (masculine and feminine) groomsman, bridesmaid, literally, person beside the bride. See para-¹, nymph

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for paranymph

Historical Examples of paranymph

These crowds you complain of are evidence that I have not discharged the function of paranymph in vain.
The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I
Marcus Dods

British Dictionary definitions for paranymph

paranymph

noun

archaic a bridesmaid or best man

Word Origin for paranymph

C16: via Late Latin from Greek paranumphos, from para- 1 + numphē bride (literally: person beside the bride)

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