νύμφη

• νῠ́μφᾱ (nŭ́mphā) — Doric

Traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *snewbʰ- (“to marry, to wed”), and compared with Latin nūbō (“to marry”) (whence English nubile). However, Beekes argues for a Pre-Greek origin, as the preceding theory does not explain the origin of the inner nasal -μ- (-m-); others including Kretschmer have also argued for substrate origin, comparing the proper name Νυμφασία (Numphasía).^[1]

νῠ́μφη • (nŭ́mphē) f (genitive νῠ́μφης); first declension

1. bride, young wife
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 18.492:

      […], νύμφας δ᾽ ἐκ θαλάμων δαΐδων ὕπο λαμπομενάων ἠγίνεον ἀνὰ ἄστυ, […]

      […], númphas d’ ek thalámōn daḯdōn húpo lampomenáōn ēgíneon anà ástu, […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   1. young, nubile woman; marriageable maiden
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 9.560:

         […]: καί ῥα ἄνακτος ἐναντίον εἵλετο τόξον Φοίβου Ἀπόλλωνος καλλισφύρου εἵνεκα νύμφης, […]

         […]: kaí rha ánaktos enantíon heíleto tóxon Phoíbou Apóllōnos kallisphúrou heíneka númphēs, […]

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   2. daughter-in-law
      • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, 1 Samuel 4.19:

        Καὶ νύμφη αὐτοῦ γυνὴ Φινεὲς συνειληφυῖα τοῦ τεκεῖν· […]

        Kaì númphē autoû gunḕ Phineès suneilēphuîa toû tekeîn; […]

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

      • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Ruth 1.8:

        Καὶ εἶπε Νωεμὶν, ταῖς δυσὶ νύμφαις αὐτῆς […]

        Kaì eîpe Nōemìn, taîs dusì númphais autês […]

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   3. (Epigraphic Ancient Greek) young girl
2. (Greek mythology, sometimes capitalized) nymph, goddess of lower rank
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 6.105:

      […]: τῇ δέ θ᾽ ἅμα νύμφαι, κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο, ἀγρονόμοι παίζουσι, γέγηθε δέ τε φρένα Λητώ: […]

      […]: tēî dé th’ háma númphai, koûrai Diòs aigiókhoio, agronómoi paízousi, gégēthe dé te phréna Lētṓ: […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   1. goddess of springs; (poetry) spring, spring water
      • 314 CE – 393 CE, Libanius, Orations 11.28
3. doll, puppet
   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Julius Caesar 332d:

      […], ἥ τε μήτηρ τοῦ Καίσαρος Αὐρηλία γυνὴ σώφρων περιέπουσα τὴν νύμφην ἀεὶ χαλεπὴν καὶ παρακεκινδυνευμένην αὐτοῖς ἐποίει τὴν ἔντευξιν.

      […], hḗ te mḗtēr toû Kaísaros Aurēlía gunḕ sṓphrōn periépousa tḕn númphēn aeì khalepḕn kaì parakekinduneuménēn autoîs epoíei tḕn énteuxin.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. bee or wasp in pupa stage
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 5.19:

      […]· ὅταν δ' ἐκ τῶν σκωλήκων εἰς τὴν διατύπωσιν ἔλθωσι, καλοῦνται μὲν νύμφαι τότε, […]

      […]; hótan d’ ek tôn skōlḗkōn eis tḕn diatúpōsin élthōsi, kaloûntai mèn númphai tóte, […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

5. winged male ant
   • 5th century CE, Hesychius Alexandreus, Συναγωγὴ Πασῶν Λέξεων κατὰ Στοιχεῖον
6. A kind of mollusk.
7. (agriculture) point of a plowshare
8. (anatomy) hollow between the lower lip and the chin
   1. (zootomy) depression on the shoulder of a horse
9. opening rosebud
10. (anatomy) clitoris, also the labia minora [from 2nd c.]
    • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Of the Uses of the Different Parts of the Human Body 15.3
11. niche

Antonym: νυμφίος (numphíos, “a bridegroom”)

• Greek: νύμφη (nýmfi, “nymph; bride”), νύφη (nýfi, “bride; in-law”)
• Mariupol Greek: нимф (nimf, “fairy”), ныф (nyf, “bride; in-law”)
• → Latin: lympha, nympha (see there for further descendants)
• → Russian: ни́мфа (nímfa)
• → Translingual: (via the genitive) Nymphes

• “νύμφη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “νύμφη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “νύμφη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “νύμφη”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• νύμφη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• νύμφη in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G3565 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• νύμφη in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bride idem, page 97.
  • elf idem, page 265.
  • fairy idem, page 302.
  • nymph idem, page 563.
  • sylph idem, page 850.
• νύμφη, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

From Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē).

νύμφη • (nýmfi) f (plural νύμφες)

1. bride
2. (Greek mythology) nymph, female sprite, female nature spirit
3. (zoology) nymph, larva
4. (zoology) pupa, chrysalis

• (bride): νύφη f (nýfi)
• (chrysalis, pupa): χρυσαλλίδα f (chrysallída)

• νύμφη on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el