merwife

M3E1R1W4I1F4E1

noun

A mermaid.

OriginOld English merewīf ← Proto-West Germanic *mariwīb ← Proto-Germanic *mariwībą →
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Meanings

nounmerwife (plural merwives)

plural merwives

  1. A mermaid.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*mariwībą“mermaid, siren”
  2. Proto-West Germanic*mariwīb
  3. Old Englishmerewīf“water witch, mermaid”
  4. Englishmerwife

From Old English merewīf (“water witch, mermaid”), potentially to an earlier Proto-West Germanic *mariwīb, from Proto-Germanic *mariwībą (“mermaid, siren”). By surface analysis, mer- + wife. Cognate with Old High German meriwīb. The construction varries regionally for the same basic folklore in Europe. Compare Old Swedish marnunna (literally “mer-nun”), Swedish havsfru (literally “sea-wife”), English mermaid (literally “mer-maiden”).

More words from Old English, Proto-West Germanic, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

merwife. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merwife

MLA

“merwife.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merwife. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “merwife,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merwife.

Source: merwife on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.