Meanings
nounnymph (plural nymphs or nymphae)
plural nymphs · plural nymphae · alternative archaic rare nymphe
- biologyAny of various butterflies of the family Nymphalidae.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA young girl, especially one who is attractive, beautiful or graceful.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*snewbʰ-
- Ancient Greekνύμφη (númphē)
- Latinnympha
- Old Frenchnimphe
- Middle Englishnimphe
- Englishnymph
From Middle English nimphe, from Old English nymphē and Old French nimphe, both from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”), from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride, young maiden”). Doublet of nympha.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek νύμφη
- νύμφη (númphē)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Bulgarian нимфа
- нимфа (nimfa)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Catalan nimfa, nimfa
- nimfamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nimfainsect larva
Chinese Mandarin 寧芙 /宁芙, 美女
- 寧芙 /宁芙 (níngfú)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- 美女 (měinǚ)young girl who may inspire lust
- 若蟲 /若虫 (ruòchóng)insect larva
Czech nymfa, nymfa
- nymfamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nymfainsect larva
Danish nymfe, nymfe
- nymfemythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nymfeinsect larva
Dutch nimf, nimf
- nimfmythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nimfinsect larva
Esperanto nimfo
- nimfomythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Estonian nümf
- nümfmythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Finnish nymfi, lolita
- nymfimythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- lolitayoung girl who may inspire lust
- nymfiinsect larva
French nymphe, nymphe
- nymphemythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nympheinsect larva
German Nymphe, Nymphomanin
- Nymphemythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- Nymphomaninyoung girl who may inspire lust
Greek νύμφη, νυμφίδιο
- νύμφη (nýmfi)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- νυμφίδιο (nymfídio)young girl who may inspire lust
- νύμφη (nýmfi)insect larva
- χρυσαλλίδα (chrysallída)insect larva
Hungarian nimfa, lárva
- nimfamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- lárvainsect larva
Irish bé choille, nimfeach
- bé choillemythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nimfeachinsect larva
Italian ninfa, ninfa
- ninfamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- ninfayoung girl who may inspire lust
- sirenettayoung girl who may inspire lust
- ninfainsect larva
Japanese ニンフ, 妖精
- ニンフ (ninfu)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- 妖精 (yōsei)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- ニュンペー (nyunpē)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- 美女 (bijo)young girl who may inspire lust
- 乙女 (otome)young girl who may inspire lust
- ニンフ (ninfu)insect larva
- 若虫 (wakamushi)insect larva
Korean 님프
- 님프 (nimpeu)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Latin nympha
- nymphamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Māori pokopoko
- pokopokoinsect larva
Norwegian Bokmål nymfe, nymfe
- nymfemythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nymfeyoung girl who may inspire lust
- nymfeinsect larva
Polish nimfa, nimfa
- nimfamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nimfainsect larva
Portuguese ninfa, ninfa
- ninfamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- ninfayoung girl who may inspire lust
- ninfainsect larva
Romanian nimfă, nimfă
- nimfămythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nimfăinsect larva
Russian ни́мфа, краса́вица
- ни́мфа (nímfa)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- краса́вица (krasávica)young girl who may inspire lust
- красо́тка (krasótka)young girl who may inspire lust
- ни́мфа (nímfa)young girl who may inspire lust
- личи́нка (ličínka)insect larva
Scottish Gaelic ainnir
- ainniryoung girl who may inspire lust
Spanish ninfa, ondina
- ninfamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- ondinamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- hénidemythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- oréademythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- oréadamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- oreamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- náyademythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- potámidemythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- ninfayoung girl who may inspire lust
- nínfulayoung girl who may inspire lust
- ninfainsect larva
Swahili nimfi, mwanamwali
- nimfimythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- mwanamwaliyoung girl who may inspire lust
Swedish nymf, nymf
- nymfmythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
- nymfyoung girl who may inspire lust
- nymfinsect larva
Tagalog nimpa
- nimpamythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Thai นางไม้
- นางไม้ (naang máai)mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Welsh nymff
- nymffinsect larva
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with nymph
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
nymph. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nymph
MLA
“nymph.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nymph. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nymph,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nymph.
Source: nymph on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.