nymph (n&ibreve_;mf), n. [L. nympha nymph, bride, young woman, Gr. nymfh: cf. F. nymphe. Cf. Nuptial.]
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1. (Class. Myth.) A goddess of the mountains, forests, meadows, or waters.
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Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorseless deep
Closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas? Milton.
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2. Hence: A lovely young girl; a maiden; a damsel.
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Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remembered. Shak.
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3. (Zoöl.) The pupa of an insect; a chrysalis.
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4. (Zoöl.) Any one of a subfamily (Najades) of butterflies including the purples, the fritillaries, the peacock butterfly, etc.; -- called also naiad.
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