wood-nymphn.
/ˈwʊdnɪmf/, U.S. /ˈwʊdˌnɪmf/ 1.
a. A nymph of the woods; a superhuman being imagined as a beautiful maiden inhabiting woods; a dryad or hamadryad.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > nymph > dryad
hamadryad1390
Napaea?1553
dryad1555
sylvan1565
wood-nymph1577
sylvester1657
Napaean1753
Napaead1818
tree-nymph1831
1577 J. Grange Golden Aphroditis sig. Mijv The Woodnymphes likewise followed moste nicely tripping.
1637 J. Milton Comus 5 By dimpled Brooke, and Fountaine brim, The Wood-nymphs deckt with daisies trim, Their merry wakes, and pastimes keepe.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 386 She..like a Wood-Nymph light Oread or Dryad..Betook her to the Groves. View more context for this quotation
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. xi. 383 Marble statues of wood-nymphs.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. ii. 30 She possessed the form and hue of a wood-nymph, with the beauty of a sylph.
1867 W. Morris Life & Death of Jason i. 4 Then mayst thou find, In some fair grassy place, the wood-nymphs kind.
b. transferred (cf. dryad n. 2a, nymph n.1 2b).
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1781 H. Cowley Belle's Stratagem ii. i. 23 The maxims you learnt among the wood nymphs in Shropshire won't pass current here.
2.
a. Name for certain species of hummingbird, esp. of the genus Thalurania (Gould).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
zumbador1758
sunbeam1769
black warrior1831
hermit-bird1837
Anna's hummingbird1839
jacobin1843
straight-tail1843
vervain hummingbird1847
wedge-bill1848
fiery topaz1854
sungem1856
wood-star1859
calliope1861
rainbow1861
sabre-wing1861
sawbill1861
swallowtail1861
sword-bill1861
thorn-bill1861
visor-bearer1861
warrior1861
wood-nymph1861
puffleg1869
calliope hummingbird1872
flame-bearer1882
shear-tail1885
plature1890
rainbow starfrontlet1966
1861 J. Gould Monogr. Trochilidæ II. Plates 99–109.
b. Collector's name for moths of the genus Eudryas.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types > miscellaneous types
high-flyer?1749
nonpareil1749
porphyry1819
satin carpet1819
satin pygmy1828
scopolian1829
chalk carpet1832
sieve lackey1832
sprawler1832
tissue1832
treble bar1832
treble gold stripe1832
vesper-beauty1832
viburnian1832
yellowhead1832
flame carpet1862
sting-moth1863
lilac moth1868
luna-moth1869
melon-caterpillar1884
wood-nymph1885
unicorn-moth1891
geometer moth1897
the suspected1908
porina1929
tomato pinworm1931
mopane worm1966
1885 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) II. 462 The beautiful wood-nymph, Eudryas grata.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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