νύμφη

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Etymology

Maybe from the same origin as Latin nūbō (“marry”) (English nubile), from Proto-Indo-European *snewbʰ- (“to marry, to wed”). Beekes argues for a Pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation
 

Noun

νῠ́μφη • (númphē) 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, […]
    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, […]
    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; […]
    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: […]
    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.
  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, […]
  5. winged male ant
    • AD 5th C., 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

Inflection
First declension of ἡ νῠ́μφη; τῆς νῠ́μφης (Attic)
Case / # Singular Dual Plural
Nominative ἡ νῠ́μφη
hē númphē		 τὼ νῠ́μφᾱ
tṑ númphā		 αἱ νῠ́μφαι
hai númphai
Genitive τῆς νῠ́μφης
tês númphēs		 τοῖν νῠ́μφαιν
toîn númphain		 τῶν νῠμφῶν
tôn numphôn
Dative τῇ νῠ́μφῃ
têi númphēi		 τοῖν νῠ́μφαιν
toîn númphain		 ταῖς νῠ́μφαις
taîs númphais
Accusative τὴν νῠ́μφην
tḕn númphēn		 τὼ νῠ́μφᾱ
tṑ númphā		 τᾱ̀ς νῠ́μφᾱς
tā̀s númphās
Vocative νῠ́μφη
númphē		 νῠ́μφᾱ
númphā		 νῠ́μφαι
númphai
Notes:
  • This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.
First declension of νῠ́μφη; νῠ́μφης (Epic)
Case / # Singular Dual Plural
Nominative νῠ́μφη
númphē		 νῠ́μφᾱ
númphā		 νῠ́μφαι
númphai
Genitive νῠ́μφης
númphēs		 νῠ́μφαιν / νῠ́μφαιῐν / νῠ́μφῃῐν
númphai(i)n / númphēiin		 νῠμφᾱ́ων / νῠμφέ͜ων / νῠμφῶν
numphā́ōn / numphé͜ōn / numphôn
Dative νῠ́μφῃ
númphēi		 νῠ́μφαιν / νῠ́μφαιῐν / νῠ́μφῃῐν
númphai(i)n / númphēiin		 νῠ́μφῃσῐ / νῠ́μφῃσῐν / νῠ́μφῃς / νῠ́μφαις
númphēisi(n) / númphēis / númphais
Accusative νῠ́μφην
númphēn		 νῠ́μφᾱ
númphā		 νῠ́μφᾱς
númphās
Vocative νῠ́μφη / νῠ́μφᾰ
númphē / númpha		 νῠ́μφᾱ
númphā		 νῠ́μφαι
númphai
Notes:
  • Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Antonyms

Antonym: νυμφίος (numphíos); a bridegroom

Derived terms
  • ᾰ̓́νῠμφος (ánumphos)
  • δῠ́σνῠμφος (dúsnumphos)
  • εὔνῠμφος (eúnumphos)
  • κᾰκόνῠμφος (kakónumphos)
  • κλεψῐ́νῠμφος (klepsínumphos)
  • λᾱθρόνῠμφος (lāthrónumphos)
  • μελλόνῠμφος (mellónumphos)
  • μῑσόνῠμφος (mīsónumphos)
  • νεόνῠμφος (neónumphos)
  • νῠμφᾱγενής (numphāgenḗs)
  • νῠμφᾱγέτης (numphāgétēs)
  • νῠμφᾰγωγός (numphagōgós)
  • νῠμφαῖος (numphaîos)
  • νῠμφεῖος (numpheîos)
  • νῠμφεύω (numpheúō)
  • νῠμφῐ́δες (numphídes)
  • νῠμφῐ́δῐος (numphídios)
  • νῠμφῐκός (numphikós)
  • νῠμφῐ́ος (numphíos)
  • νῠμφόβᾱς (numphóbās)
  • νῠμφογέννητος (numphogénnētos)
  • νῠμφόκλαυτος (numphóklautos)
  • νῠμφοκόμος (numphokómos)
  • νῠμφόληπτος (numphólēptos)
  • νῠμφοπόνος (numphopónos)
  • νῠμφοστόλος (numphostólos)
  • νῠμφοτερεῖς (numphotereîs)
  • νῠμφότῑμος (numphótīmos)
  • νῠμφοτομέω (numphotoméō)
  • νῠμφοτομῐ́ᾱ (numphotomíā)
  • νῠμφοτροφέω (numphotrophéō)
  • νῠμφοφόρος (numphophóros)
  • νῠμφώδης (numphṓdēs)
  • νῠμφών (numphṓn)
  • ὁμόνῠμφος (homónumphos)
  • πᾰλεονῠμφᾱ́γονος (paleonumphā́gonos)
  • πᾰρᾰ́νῠμφος (paránumphos)
  • πολῠ́νῠμφος (polúnumphos)
  • προνῠ́μφῐος (pronúmphios)
  • σῠννῠμφοκόμος (sunnumphokómos)
  • σῠ́ννῠμφος (súnnumphos)
  • ῠ̔πονῠμφῐ́ς (huponumphís)
  • νῠ́μφαιον (númphaion)
  • νῠμφᾰ́ς (numphás)
  • νῠμφᾰ́σμᾰτᾰ (numphásmata)
  • νῠ́μφευμᾰ (númpheuma)
  • νῠ́μφευσῐς (númpheusis)
  • νῠμφευτήρ (numpheutḗr)
  • νῠμφευτήρῐος (numpheutḗrios)
  • νῠμφευτής (numpheutḗs)
  • νῠμφεύτρῐᾰ (numpheútria)
  • νῠμφῐᾰ́ω (numphiáō)

Descendants
Descendants of νῠ́μφη in other languages

References

Further reading

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē).

Noun

νύμφη • (nýmfi) f (plural νύμφες)

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

Declension
declension of νύμφη
case     \     number singular plural
nominative νύμφη • νύμφες •
genitive νύμφης • νυμφών •
accusative νύμφη • νύμφες •
vocative νύμφη • νύμφες •

Synonyms

Further reading
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