water nymph

n. Mythology

A nymph, such as a naiad or Nereid, living in or near water.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

water nymph

1. (Classical Myth & Legend) any fabled nymph of the water, such as the Naiad, Nereid, or Oceanid of Greek mythology

2. (Plants) any of various aquatic plants, esp a water lily or a naiad

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

wa′ter nymph`

a nymph of the water, as a naiad, a Nereid, or an Oceanid.

[1350–1400]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	water nymph - submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers; of fresh or brackish water naiad genus Naias, genus Najas, Naias, Najas - sole genus of the family Naiadaceae aquatic plant, hydrophyte, hydrophytic plant, water plant - a plant that grows partly or wholly in water whether rooted in the mud, as a lotus, or floating without anchorage, as the water hyacinth
	2.	water nymph - a water lily having large leaves and showy fragrant flowers that float on the water; of temperate and tropical regions fragrant water lily, Nymphaea odorata, pond lily water lily - an aquatic plant of the family Nymphaeaceae genus Nymphaea, Nymphaea - the type genus of the family Nymphaeaceae; any of a variety of water lilies
	3.	water nymph - (Greek mythology) any nymph of the water Greek mythology - the mythology of the ancient Greeks sea nymph - (Greek mythology) a water nymph who was the daughter of Oceanus or Nereus nymph - (classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually depicted as a beautiful maiden; "the ancient Greeks believed that nymphs inhabited forests and bodies of water" naiad - (Greek mythology) a nymph of lakes and springs and rivers and fountains
	4.	water nymph - a fairy that inhabits water water spirit, water sprite faerie, faery, fay, sprite - a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers undine - any of various female water spirits

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Lore (two syllables) was a water nymph who used to sit on a high rock called the Ley or Lei (pronounced like our word LIE) in the Rhine, and lure boatmen to destruction in a furious rapid which marred the channel at that spot.

View in context

You may often detect a yet smoother and darker water, separated from the rest as if by an invisible cobweb, boom of the water nymphs, resting on it.

View in context

The second pencil drawing with colourwash, of similar date, shows Victoria's eldest daughter, Victoria, the Princess Royal, as a water nymph, and is inscribed "For Tilla from Vicky".

Queen Victoria drawings auctioned

Poland: from Slavic mythology, the water nymph.Screenshotby Philstar.

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In 2007, Mexican and Venezuelan divers discovered the girl's well-preserved skeleton, which they dubbed "Naia," or "water nymph" in Greek.

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Her return to the Broadway also saw her win the 1954 Tony Award for her role in "Ondine", a tale of a water nymph falling in love with a man.

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The explanation of the various nymphs' provenance sets up, in priamel fashion, the appearance of the water nymph ([phrase omitted], 1.1226-1228).

Heracles, Hylas, and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter in Apollonius's Argonautica

Giron, however, pointed out at how 'UPLift' was a product of Cacnio's 'male gaze' in representing the female nude, in the same way the female form has been typecasted in art by male artists as the 'water nymph' or the 'diwata' (fairy).

'UPLift' sculpture stirs debate on art originality

(Easy to see why he never remarried.) 'Water Nymph' was something else, however -- his most acclaimed picture, a two-page spread for Honey magazine in the early 70s that broke all the rules by cropping the model's face, going in so close that you got half the head instead of a head and shoulders ("You will mutilate the lips!

'No-one else ever took such a photo'

The water nymph Ondine could have sounded more silkily seductive but those tricky passages of endless rippling were negotiated convincingly by the young Hungarian.

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The advertising image that greeted me at their counter in Glasgow's Debenhams is of a shiny-limbed water nymph in a slash-sided swimsuit, her gleaming Ronsealed thigh peeking out of the pool.

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