mermaid

From Middle English mermayde (“maid of the sea”), from mere (“sea, lake”) +‎ maid, equivalent to mer- +‎ maid. Cognate with Dutch meermeid (“mermaid”), Middle High German mermaget, mermeit (“mermaid”, > German Meermagd, Meermädchen (“mermaid”)). Compare Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin (“mermaid, siren”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɜːˌmeɪd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɝ.meɪd/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

mermaid (plural mermaids)

1. A mythological creature with a woman's head and upper body, and a tail of a fish.

   Synonyms: mergirl, merlady, mermaiden, merwoman

   Hypernym: merperson

   Hyponyms: mermother, merqueen

   Holonym: merfolk

   Coordinate terms: melusine, nixie, siren

   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 2, member 3, page 210:

     Search the depth, & ſee that variety of Sea monſters & fiſhes, Mare-maids, Sea men, Horſes, &c. which it affords.

   • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 242:

     People that are drowned, and whose bodies are not founds are believed to have been taken into the dwellings of the Mermaids.

2. (as a modifier) Coloured a brilliant turquoise.

   a mermaid smoothie

   mermaid ice-cream

3. (obsolete) A prostitute.

   Synonyms: hooker, lady of the night; see also Thesaurus:prostitute

   • 1601 (first performance), Thomas Dekker, Satiro-mastix. Or The Untrussing of the Humorous Poet. […], London: […] [Edward Allde] for Edward White, […], published 1602, →OCLC, signature H2, recto:

     A Gentleman or an honeſt Cittizen, ſhall not Sit in your pennie-bench Theaters, vvith his Squirrell by his ſide cracking nuttes; nor ſneake into a Tauerne vvith his Mermaid; but he ſhall be Satyr'd and Epigram'd vpon, and his humour muſt run vpo'th Stage: […]

• false mermaid (Floerkea proserpinacoides)
• Fiji mermaid
• mermaid skirt
• mermaid syndrome
• mermaid tresses
• mermaid's fishing line (Chorda filum)
• mermaid's glove (Haliclona oculata; Alcyonium digitatum)
• mermaid's hair (Lyngbya majuscula)
• mermaid's head (Spatengus spp.; Amphidetus cordatus)
• mermaid's purse
• mermaid's toenail (Anomiidae spp.)
• mermaid's tresses (Chorda filum)
• mermaidweed (Floerkea proserpinacoides)
• reverse mermaid

• 🧜‍♀️

• mermaid on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “*mermaid*”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.