Jump to content

mermaid

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

[edit]
John W. Waterhouse, A Mermaid, 1900

Etymology

[edit]

From Middle English mermayde (“maid of the sea”), from mere (“sea, lake”) +‎ maid, equivalent to mer- +‎ maid. Cognate with Dutch meermeid (“mermaid”), Middle High German mermaget, mermeit (“mermaid”, > German Meermagd, Meermädchen (“mermaid”)). Compare Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin (“mermaid, siren”).

Pronunciation

[edit]
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmɜːˌmeɪd/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈmɝ.meɪd/
    • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

[edit]

mermaid (plural mermaids)

  1. A mythological creature with a woman's head and upper body, and a tail of a fish.
    Synonyms: mergirl, merlady, mermaiden, merwoman
    Hypernym: merperson
    Hyponyms: mermother, merqueen
    Holonym: merfolk
    Coordinate terms: melusine, nixie, siren
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 2, member 3, page 210:
      Search the depth, & ſee that variety of Sea monſters & fiſhes, Mare-maids, Sea men, Horſes, &c. which it affords.
    • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 242:
      People that are drowned, and whose bodies are not founds are believed to have been taken into the dwellings of the Mermaids.
  2. (as a modifier) Coloured a brilliant turquoise.
    a mermaid smoothie
    mermaid ice-cream
  3. (obsolete) A prostitute.
    Synonyms: hooker, lady of the night; see also Thesaurus:prostitute

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Translations

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=mermaid&oldid=82709564"