undinen.
/ˈʌndiːn/, U.S. /ˈənˌdin/ A supernatural female being, imagined as inhabiting the water; a nymph. Also attributive.The following early instance is based upon the variant Undena also employed by Paracelsus:—
1657 H. Pinnell tr. Crollius Philos. Reformed i. 26 To the Water there belongs Nimphs, Undens, Melosyns.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [noun] > nature-spirit > inhabiting water
lady of the lake1579
shoupiltin1711
wraith1755
nixie1816
undine1821
nix1833
Jenny Greenteeth1850
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [adjective] > inhabiting water
watery1449
undine1869
undinal1891
α.
β. 1837 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe I. vii. 543 Nature..is peopled with spiritual beings,..the silvains (sylphs), undines, or nymphs, gnomes and salamanders.1869 A. J. Evans Vashti vi. 84 Their foaming cataracts braided glittering spray into spectral similitude of Undine tresses and Undine faces.1821 Tales Landlord, Fair Witch Glas Llyn III. 207 The ondines rich in the spoils of pearls and coral from the deep bed of ocean.
1865 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Rationalism (1878) I. i. 42 The Cabalists believed in the existence of spirits of nature, embodiments..of the four elements, sylphs, salamanders, gnomes, and ondines.
Draft additions 1993
unˈdinal adj. of, characteristic of, or associated with undines.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [adjective] > inhabiting water
watery1449
undine1869
undinal1891
1891 in Cent. Dict.
1955 J. K. Baxter Fire & Anvil 62 Hart Crane's image of the ‘undinal vast belly’.
1977 RiverSedge (Edinburg, Texas) I. ii Notice how the dry leaves Already rustle between us, And the rising winds fly them up Like shreds of proximity Over the vast undinal ocean.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1821