1. (Class. Myth.) A goddess of the mountains, forests, meadows, or waters.
Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorseless deep
Closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas ?
Milton. 2. Hence: A lovely young girl; a maiden; a damsel.
Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remembered.
Shak. 3. (Zoöl.) The pupa of an insect; a chrysalis.
4. (Zoöl.) Any one of a subfamily (Najades) of butterflies including the purples, the fritillaries, the peacock
butterfly, etc.; — called also naiad.
Nympha
(||Nym"pha) n.; pl. Nymphæ [L. See Nymph a goddess.]
1. (Zoöl.) Same as Nymph, 3.
2. pl. (Anat.) Two folds of mucous membrane, within the labia, at the opening of the vulva.
Nymphæa
(||Nym*phæ"a) n. [L., the water lily, Gr. .] (Bot.) A genus of aquatic plants having showy flowers
including the white water lily and the Egyptia lotus.
Recent critics have endeavored to show that this genus should be called Castalia, and the name Nymphæa
transferred to what is now known as Nuphar.
Nymphal
(Nymph"al) a. Of or pertaining to a nymph or nymphs; nymphean.
Nymphales
(||Nym*pha"les) n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) An extensive family of butterflies including the nymphs,
the satyrs, the monarchs, the heliconias, and others; — called also brush-footed butterflies.
Nymphean
(Nym*phe"an) a. [Gr. . See Nymph.] Of, pertaining to, or appropriate to, nymphs; inhabited
by nymphs; as, a nymphean cave.
Nymphet
(Nymph"et) n. A little or young nymph. [Poetic] "The nymphets sporting there." Drayton.
Nymphic
(Nymph"ic Nymph"ic*al) a. Of or pertaining to nymphs.
Nymphiparous
(Nym*phip"a*rous) a. [Nymph + L. parere to produce.] (Zoöl.) Producing pupas or
nymphs.
Nymphish
(Nymph"ish) a. Relating to nymphs; ladylike. "Nymphish war." Drayton.
Nymphlike
(Nymph"like` Nymph"ly) a. Resembling, or characteristic of, a nymph.
Nympholepsy
(Nym"pho*lep`sy) n. [Gr. a nymph + to seize.] A species of demoniac enthusiasm or
possession coming upon one who had accidentally looked upon a nymph; ecstasy. [R.] De Quincey.
The nympholepsy of some fond despair.
Byron. Nympholeptic
(Nym`pho*lep"tic) a. Under the influence of nympholepsy; ecstatic; frenzied. [Poetic]
Nymphomania
(Nym`pho*ma"ni*a) n. [Gr. a bride + madness.] (Med.) Morbid and uncontrollable sexual
desire in women, constituting a true disease.
Nymphomany
(Nym"pho*ma`ny) n. [Cf. F. nymphomanie.] (Med.) Same as Nymphomania.
