paranymph

American  

[par-uh-nimf] / ˈpær əˌnɪmf /

noun

1. a groomsman or a bridesmaid.

2. (in ancient Greece)

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

   2. the bridesmaid who escorted the bride to the bridegroom.

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paranymph British  

/ ˈpærəˌnɪmf /

noun

1. archaic a bridesmaid or best man

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Etymology

Origin of paranymph

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

Example Sentences

These crowds you complain of are evidence that I have not discharged the function of paranymph in vain.

From The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I by Dods, Marcus

The function of the bridegroom’s friend, or paranymph, was to ask the hand of the bride for the bridegroom, and to arrange the marriage.

From The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I by Dods, Marcus

In the evening, the "fiancee" is conducted to her new home in a flowered chariot between her husband and the paranymph, escorted by torch-bearers and flute-girls.

From Ancient Manners Also Known As Aphrodite by Lou?s, Pierre