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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
nymph \nymph\ (n[i^]mf), noun [L. nympha nymph, bride, young woman, Gr. ny'mfh: 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. --Shak.
3. (Zo["o]l.) The pupa of an insect; a chrysalis.
4. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of a subfamily (Najades) of butterflies including the purples, the fritillaries, the peacock butterfly, etc.; -- called also {naiad}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
nymph
noun
1: (classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually depicted as a beautiful maiden; "the ancient Greeks believed that nymphs inhabited forests and bodies of water"
2: a larva of an insect with incomplete metamorphosis (as the dragonfly or mayfly)
3: a voluptuously beautiful young woman [syn: {houri}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "nymph": Anlage, Atlantides, Hyades, Napaea, Pleiades, arachnid, arthropod, aurelia, beetle, blastula, bug, caterpillar, centipede, chilopod, chippy, chrysalis, cocoon, daddy longlegs, diplopod, dryad, embryo, fetus, floozy, flower nymph, fly, germ, germen, glen nymph, grisette, grub, hamadryad, harvestman, hexapod, insect, larva, limoniad, maggot, millepede, millipede, mite, mountain nymph, nympha, nymphet, nymphlin, oread, pupa, rudiment, scorpion, spider, tarantula, tick, tree nymph, vila, wiggler, willi, wood nymph, wriggler, zygote
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