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Webster 1913 Edition

nymph

nymph

(nĭmf)
,
Noun.
[L.
nympha
nymph, bride, young woman, Gr.
νύμφη
: cf. F.
nymphe
. Cf.
Nuptial
.]
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.
Shakespeare
3.
(Zool.)
The pupa of an insect; a chrysalis.
4.
(Zool.)
Any one of a subfamily (
Najades
) of butterflies including the purples, the fritillaries, the peacock butterfly, etc.; – called also
naiad
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Nymph

NYMPH

,
Noun.
1.
In mythology, a goddess of the mountains, forests, meadows and waters. According to the ancients, all the world was full of nymphs, some terrestrial, others celestial; and these had names assigned to them according to their place of residence, or the parts of the world over which they were supposed to preside.
2.
In poetry, a lady.

NYMPH

,
Noun.
Another name of the pupa, chrysalis, or aurelia; the second state of an insect, passing to its perfect form.

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