Fwd: "nymph" - Word of the Day from the OED

[Dave Monroe]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:  <oedwotd at oup.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Subject: "nymph" - Word of the Day from the OED
To: OEDWOTD-AMER-L at webber.uk.hub.oup.com


OED Online Word of the Day
________________________________

nymph, n.1

DRAFT REVISION June 2009

Brit. /nmf/, U.S. /nmf/  Forms: ME nemphe, ME-16 nimphe, ME-16 nymphe,
15 nimpt, 15-16 nimph, 15-16 nympe, 15- nymph, 17 nympht, 17-18
nympth; Sc. pre-17 nimph, pre-17 nimphe, pre-17 17 nymphe, pre-17 17-
nymph. [< Middle French, French nymphe semi-divine spirit (second half
of the 12th cent. in Old French; also as nimphe), a courtesan (dated
to end of the 16th cent. in Robert Dict. Alphabétique et Analogique
(1986)), a beautiful young woman (1630), an extravagantly dressed
woman of the period of the Directory (1898), an insect larva (1562,
translating Pliny: compare NYMPHA n. 1, and quot. 1601 at sense 1),
the labia minora (1599) < classical Latin nympha (see NYMPHA n.).
Compare Italian ninfa (early 14th cent.; also as plural nimfe),
Spanish ninfa (first half of the 15th cent.; also as nimpha),
Portuguese ninfa (16th cent. as nimpha).
  Senses 3a, 4a, and 5 reflect similar uses of the ancient (and
Hellenistic) Greek etymon (see NYMPHA n.).
  For earlier use of Latin nympha in an English context compare the following:
  eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS
Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 324
Nymphas, gydena. eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng.
Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.)
(1951) 331 Nymfæ, wæterælfenne. OE BYRHTFER Enchiridion (Ashm.) III.
i. 134 a Castalidas nymphas (æt synt dunylfa), a e wunedon on Elicona
ære dune.]

    1. Chiefly Classical Mythol. Any of a class of semi-divine
spirits, imagined as taking the form of a maiden inhabiting the sea,
rivers, mountains, woods, trees, etc., and often portrayed in poetry
as attendants on a particular god.
  Special names for various types of nymph existed in Greek, and many
of these have been employed in English, as dryad, hamadryad, naiad,
Nereid, oceanid, oread, etc. More explicitly, the word nymph is often
preceded by a word indicating the nymph's particular association: for
established compounds of this type see the first element.

c1385 CHAUCER Knight's Tale 2928 The goddes ronnen vp and doun
Disherited of hir habitacioun In which they woneden in reste and pees:
Nymphes [v.r. Nymphus], fawnes, and Amadrides. a1393 GOWER Confessio
Amantis (Fairf.) III. 819, I rede Of thilke Nimphe which Laar hihte.
a1393 GOWER Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) V. 6238 With the Nimphes ek
also Upon the spring of freisshe welles Sche schop to duelle. a1425
(c1385) CHAUCER Troilus & Criseyde (1987) IV. 1544, I swere it yow..on
ech goddesse, On every nymphe [v.r. nemphe] and deite infernal. c1425
(a1420) LYDGATE Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A. 4) II. 2580 With hir nymphes,
Iuno cam be-hynde. c1500 Melusine (1895) 15 Ye shuld shortly haue ben
out of the handes of the Nymphes & of the fairees. a1522 G. DOUGLAS
tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) VIII. vi. 6 Nymphis and fawnys..Quhilk..elvys
clepyng we. 1567 J. MAPLET Greene Forest f. 54, Neptunes Daughter a
Nymph, fleeing from Priapus, was turned into this tree. 1601 B. JONSON
Fountaine of Selfe-love V. ii. sig. K4, The fourth in White is
Apheleia, a Nymph as pure and simple as the Soule, or as an abrase
Table. 1634 MILTON Comus 824 There is a gentle Nymph not farr from
hence, That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream. 1671
MILTON Paradise Regain'd II. 355 Under the Trees now trip'd, now
solemn stood Nymphs of Diana's train, and Naiades..And Ladies of th'
Hesperides. 1717 LADY M. W. MONTAGU Let. 18 Apr. (1965) I. 351 Her
fair Maids..put me in Mind of the pictures of the ancient Nymphs. 1746
W. THOMPSON Hymn to May xvii. 14 So far in virtue and in goodlihead
Above all other nymphs Ianthe bears the meed. 1791 W. COWPER tr. Homer
Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. XVIII. 63 Nor alone Came these, but every
ocean-nymph beside. 1835 C. THIRLWALL Hist. Greece I. vi. 200 Where
flocks and herds of the Sun were tended by the nymphs. 1894 E.
SULLIVAN Woman 85 If you entered a grove or bathed in a river, you
might tumble over a nymph or a satyr, or perhaps an Olympian. 1919 W.
S. MAUGHAM Moon & Sixpence xxx. 131 Did he dream of the nymph flying
through the woods of Greece with the satyr in hot pursuit? 1968 B.
WALKER Hindu World II. 143 In Hindu mythology the celestial nymph or
apsar..is a personification of the mists or clouds in the form of a
beauteous damsel. 1992 Antique Dealer & Collectors Guide Jan. 19
(caption) Among the Art Nouveau jewellery..was this gold,
pique-a-jour, diamond and ruby brooch modelled as a naked nymph.

    2. a. euphem. and humorous. A prostitute; a woman regarded as a
means of sexual gratification. Formerly freq. with of, as nymph of the
pavé, etc.

1563 T. BECON Displayeng of Popishe Masse in Wks. III. f. 36v,
Antichristes broude of Rome..signifie vnto such nyce Nymphes as knowe
your secret suttelties and ioly iuglinges, that ye are beastes of that
marke, that wyl neuer fayle Lady Venus nor none of her kynde
kytlinges. 1632 W. LITHGOW Totall Disc. Trav. I. 27 These vermillion
Nymphs..would oft runne races, skipping like wanton Lambes. c1663 G.
ETHEREGE Poems (1963) 39 She made me friends with Mrs. Cuffley, Whom
we indeed had used too roughly; For by a gentler way I found The Nymph
[v.r. Whore] would fuck under ten pound. 1699 London Spy XII. 12
Nimphs of Delight, who only carry Papers in their hands for a blind.
1731 E. THOMAS Let. in Pylades & Corinna 283, I intreat, implore, nay,
conjure you, by your own Ovid, by his darling Venus, and by your more
tangible Deities, the amiable Nymphs of Drury, reject not my just, my
last Petition. 1751 F. COVENTRY Hist. Pompey 96 His Master..sold him a
second time to a Nymph of Billingsgate for a Pennyworth of Oysters.
1828 G. SMEETON Doings in London 91 A young green-horn, fresh from the
country, met with a nymph of the pavé in the Haymarket. 1833 W. F.
TOLMIE Jrnl. 28 Mar. (1963) 133 Nymphs of the pavé numerous (in
Honolulu). c1890 My Secret Life IV. 64 Then a dread came over me. I
had fucked a common street nymph. 1902 J. S. FARMER & W. E. HENLEY
Slang V. 81 Nymph of darkness (or the pavement),..a prostitute. 1942
L. V. BERREY & M. VAN DEN BARK Amer. Thes. Slang §507/2
Prostitute..Nymph du pave. 1964 ‘W. HAGGARD’ Antagonists vii. 71
Counsellor of Embassy living with fellow-travelling nymph... They'd do
most things to muffle that one. 1968 R. STOUT Father Hunt (1969) xiii.
157 She was a nymph. She was a goddam tart.

    b. Chiefly poet. A beautiful young woman; a maiden, a damsel.

1584 T. LODGE Delect. Hist. Forbonius & Prisceria 32 O Nimph of
beauties train, The onely cause and easer of my paine. 1600
SHAKESPEARE Midsummer Night's Dream IV. i. 126 But soft, what nymphes
are these? Egeus. My Lord, this is my daughter heere a sleepe. c1616
W. MURE Misc. Poems XV. 19 Then happie nimph, quhoise spreit in peace
repoises. 1682 DRYDEN Prol. to Dutchess sig. A1, But now th'
Illustrious Nymph return'd again, Brings every Grace triumphant in her
Train. 1703 N. ROWE Fair Penitent I. i. 6, I hastily took leave, and
left the Nymph. 1749 J. CLELAND Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 205 A plan
of joy, in hot operation between Emily and her partner, who..had led
his nymph to one of the benches on the green bank, where he was very
cordially proceeding to teach her the difference betwixt jest and
earnest. 1768-74 A. TUCKER Light of Nature (1834) II. 574 They expect
to find a faithful nymph or swain in whatever their fancy sets upon.
1821 BYRON Sardanapalus I. ii. 7 Fair nymphs, who deign To share the
soft hours of Sardanapalus. 1855 TROLLOPE Warden vi, How..the muslin
fluttered and crumpled before Eleanor and another nymph were duly
seated at the piano. 1895 G. RANKEN Windabyne 260 Toby, getting up the
horses one morning, got a glimpse of a little dusky nymph dipping her
‘coolamin’ in a..tarn. 1926 E. WHARTON Let. 11 Apr. (1988) 490 At
dinner he was still brooding over these brawny nymphs in grass-green
‘Mother Hubbards’ & Cubist sweaters. 1944 C. DILKE in Wine & Food No.
41. 16 He might have been back at the Eureka tennis club..watching the
nymphs who played patball on summer evenings. 1990 Interview Mar. 18/3
These days you might see a lot of the goddesses imitating the nymphs
with the ripped jeans and Gap pocket T-shirts.

    c French Hist. An extravagantly dressed Frenchwoman of the period
of the Directory. Cf. MERVEILLEUSE n. Obs. rare.

1898 M. LOYD tr. O. Uzanne Fashion in Paris i. 14 The Nymph and the
Merveilleusethose types of a period of deep corruption and open
libertinage.

    3. a. Zool. An insect larva; (now) spec. the larva of a
hemimetabolous insect, frequently resembling the adult in form though
sexually immature; (formerly) (also) a pupa (obs.) Also: a mite or
tick at a stage in the life cycle between larva and adult, having
eight legs like the adult.

1577 B. GOOGE tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husb. IV. f. 185v, The other
common sort, when they begin to haue fashion, are called Nimphes [L.
nymphae]. 1623 C. BUTLER Feminine Monarchie (rev. ed.) ii. sig. E1,
The young weake Nymphs falling in those shadie places..are in danger
to be chilled. 1658 J. ROWLAND tr. T. Muffet Theater of Insects in
Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 898 At length they grow
to be Nymphs, i.e. little Bees, but without wings. 1716 J. GAY Let. 26
Mar. (1966) 30 The nymph whose tail is all on Flame Is aptly term'd, a
Glow worm. 1747 W. GOULD Acct. Eng. Ants 44 They are called Nymphs in
allusion to Brides, because when they leave this State, they are often
arrayed in Gayety and Splendour. 1753 E. CHAMBERS Cycl. Suppl. Suppl.
s.v., This is properly the nymph state. 1834 H. MCMURTRIE tr. G. de
Cuvier Animal Kingdom 415 The nymphs of the large species leave the
water altogether. 1895 D. SHARP Insects I. 420 The mouth of the nymph
bears a remarkable structure called the mask. 1936 Forestry 10 134 The
first-stage nymphs..were overlooked in 1935 and first discerned at the
end of March 1936 on the twigs of the previous year. 1965 J. D. CARTHY
Behaviour of Arthropods vi. 79 Among the termites, nymphs as well as
adults can carry out these duties, but in hymenopteran societies it
can only be adults which do so. 2001 tr. L.-H. Olsen et al. Small
Woodland Creatures 91 It [sc. the sheep tick] takes one blood meal for
each stage of development: 1st year as larva (with 6 legs), 2nd year
as nymph, and 3rd year as adult.

    b. A fishing fly made in imitation of the aquatic larva of a mayfly.

1910 G. E. M. SKUES Minor Tactics of Chalk Stream iv. 32, I had tied
some nymphs of appropriate colour of body. 1922 R. C. BRIDGETT Dry-fly
Fishing i. 17 The place of honour [as a lure] is occupied by the
artificial nymph. 1987 Trout Fisherman Mar. 44/3 Wind-knots can get
into the leader..by using too fine a tippet when fishing either a lure
or a large, leaded nymph.

    4. Extended uses.

    a. literary and poet. A stream, a river. Obs.

1605 J. SYLVESTER tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. I. vi.
213 Kennet,..Her Siluer Nymphes (almost) directly leading, To meet her
Mistresse (the great Thames) at Reading. a1649 W. DRUMMOND Wks. (1711)
156 Having to these Seas of Joy..added this small Brook or Nymph of
mine. 1889 F. E. GRETTON Memory's Harkback 291 If the wandering nymph,
Vaga, instead of flowing zigzag from Hereford to Ross, would but have
meandered down this valley.

    b. A ship. Obs. rare.

1876 R. F. BURTON Two Trips Gorilla Land II. 15, I transferred myself
on board H.M. Steamship ‘Zebra’, one of the nymphs of the British
navy.

    5. In pl. Anat. = NYMPHA n. 2. Obs. rare.

1615 H. CROOKE 239 The two smaller clefts..between the Nymphes, the
two Nymphes themselues.

    6. Conchol. = NYMPHA n. 3.

1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 319/1 Shell often gaping a little at the lateral
extremities... Nymphs..gaping outwards. 1969 L. R. COX in R. C. Moore
Treat. Invertebr. Paleontol. N. I. 46/2 The nymphae or nymphs are
narrow lunate platforms (one in each valve) which in many bivalves
extend from the beaks along part of the posterodorsal margin. 1987 J.
POJETA in R. S. Boardman et al. Fossil Invertebr. xiv. 417/1 Elongate
external ligaments may attach to narrow internal platforms called
nymphs. 2000 J. C. W. COPE in E. M. Harper et al. Evolutionary Biol.
Bivalvia (Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. No. 177) 88/1 It may be that the
nymphs were perforce developed in the ctenodontids as the rearward
migration of the umbones shortened the effective length of the
ligament, thus making stronger insertion essential.
________________________________

    COMPOUNDS

    C1. a. nymph-land n.

1887 C. BOWEN tr. Virgil Eclogues ix, in Virgil in Eng. Verse 60 Who
was to chant us stories of *Nymph-land, blossom and flower 1998
Canberra Times 31 Oct. A5 One of our favourite walks beside the Swan
River we called Nymph-land, because it seemed to us mysterious and
wonderful, with a magical invisible presence.

    nymph-mother n.

1835 N. P. WILLIS Pencillings I. xxxviii. 257 The lovely *nymph-mother
of Ganymede.

    nymph-queen n.

1812 BYRON Childe Harold II. xxix, While thus of both bereft, the
*nymph-queen [Calypso] doubly sigh'd. 1878 T. C. IRWIN Skeletal
Chaperon in Songs & Romances 222 An opera girl... Such a nymph queen
of the boards. 1993 Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) (Nexis) 12
Mar. 17 He flashes through some spectacular bravura twirls and leaps,
partnering nymph-queen Marielena Mencia.

    nymph-song n.

1930 E. BLUNDEN Summer's Fancy 15 When *nymph-songs echoed on the
blossomed breeze. 1993 Amer. Rec. Guide (Nexis) Nov. 179 They sing a
nymphs' song, recognize that..the game of love must be played, and
finally present a rather bitter and cynical catalog of the skills they
possess.

    b. nymph-haunted adj.

1827 WORDSWORTH Ode iv, in Poet. Wks. III. 207 The Vault rang with
choral harmony, Like some *Nymph-haunted Grot beneath the roaring sea.
1881 O. WILDE Poems 69 Blue nymph-haunted seas. 1979 Washington Post
(Nexis) 12 Aug. K4 The author ranges from the Garden of Eden..to the
nymph-haunted gardens of classical Greece and Rome.

    nymph-pink adj.

1891 ‘PAPILLONETTE’ in Bazaar 20 Feb. 264/3 Ivory-white, *nymph-pink,
blue, and heliotrope.

    nymph-prompted adj. Obs.

1606 J. SYLVESTER tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new
ed.) II. iii. 88 *Nymph-prompted Nvma, or the Spartans Lord.

    nymph-strong adj. Obs.

1605 J. SYLVESTER tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. II. ii.
413 The rowling ridges Of *Nymph-strong floods.

    C2. nymph fishing n. fishing using a nymph as a fly (see sense 3b).

1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 May 374/2 The delicate art of *nymph-fishing.
1972 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 1 July 15/2 The Club rules permit
only dry fly and nymph fishing until the end of July. 1990 Fly
Fisherman Dec. 70/1 Dyed lines are especially advantageous for nymph
fishing, because you tend to cast a bit farther upstream of the fish.
________________________________

    DERIVATIVES

    nymphless adj.

1931 T. S. MOORE Nostalgia in Coll. Poems 337 Dead land, still hugged
by thy warm sea *Nymphless, unfauned, uncentaured! 1948 C. DAY LEWIS
Poems 1943-7 19 Otherwise the forest was silent: birdless; nymphless.

    nymphship n.

1662 Life & Death Mrs. Mary Frith To Rdr. 3 He that..thinks not her
*Nymphship as venerable as any of that mysterious sisterhood, is not
fit to carry Guts to a Beare. 1871 K. H. DIGBY Ouranogaia iv. 53 Some
side observers can perceive How soon she will her nymphship leave.

Visit the OED's home page at http://www.oed.com