What is nymph?

What Does nymph Mean

The first thing we are going to do to discover the meaning of the term nymph is to know its etymological origin. In this case, we can establish that it derives from the Greek, specifically from “nymphé”, which can be translated as “divinity of the sources”.

The first meaning mentioned in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) refers to a young woman who stands out for her beauty .
For example: "The boy was dazzled by the nymph's charm" , "At the head of the pop band is a nymph who captivated the audience with her grace and voice" , "The nymph entered the bar and took all the looks ” .
Another use of nymph mentioned by the RAE refers to a courtesan : a member of the female gender with liberal habits. In any case, the most frequent use of the concept appears in the field of mythology .

Nymphs, in this setting, are female deities that are often related to a particular natural site, such as a forest or a lake. These are divine spirits that, in the artistic field, are represented as semi-naked or naked young people of great attractiveness.
Specifically, we have to establish that the nymphs were divided into several different categories:

-The naiads, which were the nymphs of the sources.

-The oréades, who came to be the nymphs of the mountains.

-The Nereids, which was the name given to the nymphs of the sea. They were characterized because they were represented with the lower half of the body in the shape of a fish.

-The dryads, who were also known as hamadryads. These were the nymphs of the trees.

-The meliades, which were specifically the nymphs of the ash trees.
In art, nymphs have always been very present. Hence, there are numerous artistic works where these women of mythology took center stage. A good example of this is the painting entitled “Hilas y las nyfas”.
This painting was made by the British painter John Williams Waterhouse (1849 - 1917) in 1896. In the Art Manchester Gallery you can now find this work, which represents the famous myth of Hilas, which narrates like this, son of the king Tiodamante, he is kidnapped and seduced by nymphs given his great beauty.
In the field of zoology , the juvenile stage of an insect that develops a simple metamorphosis is called nymph . Nymphs have similar characteristics to adults, although their wings are not fully developed and their gonads are immature. The cockroaches , the dragonflies , the locusts and lice are some of the animals in their development, undergoing a phase as nymphs.
Finally, the nymph cockatoo , also known as the Carolina or Cocotilla , is a bird native to Australia . Its scientific name is Nymphicus hollandicus and it is often considered as a pet .

In the same way, we cannot ignore the existence of what is known as a papillary nymph. This bird is characterized because its growth process is very similar to that of lovebirds. It is characterized by being very sensitive and requires that those who care for it have a lot of patience to get it to grow in the best conditions.

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