3. [syn: nymph, houri]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
nymph \nymph\ (n[i^]mf), n. [L. nympha nymph, bride, young
woman, Gr. ny`mfh: cf. F. nymphe. Cf. Nuptial.]
1. (Class. Myth.) A goddess of the mountains, forests,
meadows, or waters.
Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorseless deep
Closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas?
2. Hence: A lovely young girl; a maiden; a damsel.
Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remembered. --Shak.
3. (Zool.) The pupa of an insect; a chrysalis.
4. (Zool.) Any one of a subfamily (Najades) of butterflies
including the purples, the fritillaries, the peacock
butterfly, etc.; -- called also naiad.
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
n 1: (classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually
depicted as a beautiful maiden; "the ancient Greeks
believed that nymphs inhabited forests and bodies of water"
2: a larva of an insect with incomplete metamorphosis (as the
dragonfly or mayfly)
3: a voluptuously beautiful young woman [syn: nymph, houri]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "nymph":
Anlage, Atlantides, Hyades, Napaea, Pleiades, arachnid, arthropod,
aurelia, beetle, blastula, bug, caterpillar, centipede, chilopod,
chippy, chrysalis, cocoon, daddy longlegs, diplopod, dryad, embryo,
fetus, floozy, flower nymph, fly, germ, germen, glen nymph,
grisette, grub, hamadryad, harvestman, hexapod, insect, larva,
limoniad, maggot, millepede, millipede, mite, mountain nymph,
nympha, nymphet, nymphlin, oread, pupa, rudiment, scorpion, spider,
tarantula, tick, tree nymph, vila, wiggler, willi, wood nymph,