noun · verb · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK, US:/ˈnɪmf/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɪmf
CMU ARPABET:N IH1 M F
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Any female nature spirit associated with water, forests, grottos, wind, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: houri
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: woman, adult female
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *snewbh- Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē)der. Latin nymphader. Old French nimphebor. Middle English nimphe English nymph From Middle English nimphe, from Old English nymphē and Old French nimphe, both from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”), from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride”). Doublet of nympha.
Across languages
Translations
103 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
нимфа
(nimfa)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Catalan:
nimfa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Czech:
nymfa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Danish:
nymfe
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Dutch:
nimf
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Erzya:
ведюрьва
(veďuŕva)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Esperanto:
nimfo
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Estonian:
nümf
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Finnish:
nymfi
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
French:
nymphe
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Galician:
ninfa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
German:
Nymphe
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Greek:
νύμφη
(nýmfi)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Ancient Greek:
νύμφη
(númphē)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Hungarian:
nimfa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Ido:
nimfo
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Irish:
bé choille
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Italian:
ninfa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Japanese:
ニンフ
(ninfu)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Japanese:
妖精
(yōsei)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Japanese:
ニュンペー
(nyunpē)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Korean:
님프
(nimpeu)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Latin:
nympha
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Macedonian:
ни́мфа
(nímfa)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Norwegian Bokmål:
nymfe
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Norwegian Nynorsk:
nymfe
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Old English:
ielfen
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Polish:
nimfa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Portuguese:
ninfa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Romanian:
nimfă
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Russian:
ни́мфа
(nímfa)
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Serbo-Croatian:
ни̑мфа
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Serbo-Croatian:
ру̀са̄лка
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Serbo-Croatian:
ви́ла
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Serbo-Croatian:
nȋmfa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Serbo-Croatian:
rùsālka
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Serbo-Croatian:
víla
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Spanish:
ninfa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Spanish:
ondina
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Spanish:
hénide
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Spanish:
oréade
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Spanish:
oréada
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Spanish:
orea
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Spanish:
náyade
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Spanish:
potámide
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Swahili:
nimfi
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Swedish:
nymf
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
Tagalog:
nimpa
— mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit
