mermaid

IPA/ˈmɜːmeɪd/
KK[mˈɚmˌed]IPA/ˈmɜːrmeɪd/

mermaid — noun

  • mermaidsingular
  • mermaidsplural

1. a mythical being from stories that has a woman's upper body and a fish's tail fo

1.nounA2
Definition

a mythical being from stories that has a woman's upper body and a fish's tail for legs, living in the sea

Example

Mei-Lin drew a mermaid with long red hair and a green tail for art class.

mermaid + physical description

In the fairy tale, a young mermaid rescued the sailor and wished to become human.

fairy tale narrative: mermaid + magical transformation

Common collocations
  • mythical mermaid
  • young mermaid
  • beautiful mermaid
  • mermaid story
  • mermaid tail
  • mermaid costume
Synonyms
  • siren

    in Greek mythology, sirens lured sailors to their deaths with song — mermaids in modern stories are usually gentler and kinder

Word family

  • merman
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Mermaids, sirens, nymphs, and naiads are all female figures from mythology who live near water. In modern stories, mermaids are usually gentle creatures with fish tails who live in the sea. Sirens, from Greek mythology, were dangerous creatures who sang to attract sailors to crash their ships; the word 'siren' now often means a temptation that leads to harm. Nymphs are nature spirits from Greek and Roman stories — they are not half-fish but fully human in form. Naiads are a type of nymph that lives in rivers and springs. While all four are mythical, only the mermaid has a fish tail.

siren ↗nymph ↗naiad ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

'Mermaid' comes from Middle English 'mermayde' — a blend of 'mer' meaning 'sea' (from Old English 'mere', related to Latin 'mare' for sea) and 'maid' meaning 'young woman'. The word first appeared in English writing around the 1300s, replacing the earlier term 'siren' which had been used for similar creatures in medieval stories.