νύμφη

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• νῠ́μφᾱ (nŭ́mphā) — Doric

Etymology

Traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *snewbʰ- (“to marry, to wed”), and compared with Latin nūbō (“to marry”) (whence English nubile). However, Beekes argues for a Pre-Greek origin, as the preceding theory does not explain the origin of the inner nasal -μ- (-m-); others including Kretschmer have also argued for substrate origin, comparing the proper name Νυμφασία (Numphasía).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ným.pʰɛː/ → /ˈnym.ɸi/ → /ˈnim.fi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ným.pʰɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈnym.pʰe̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈnym.ɸi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈnym.fi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈnim.fi/

Noun

νῠ́μφη • (nŭ́mphē) 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, […]

      […], númphas d’ ek thalámōn daḯdōn húpo lampomenáōn ēgíneon anà ástu, […]

   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; […]

      • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Ruth 1.8:

        Καὶ εἶπε Νωεμὶν, ταῖς δυσὶ νύμφαις αὐτῆς […]

        Kaì eîpe Nōemìn, taîs dusì númphais autês […]

   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: […]

      […]: têi dé th’ háma númphai, koûrai Diòs aigiókhoio, agronómoi paízousi, gégēthe dé te phréna Lētṓ: […]

   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
   • 5th century CE, 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 nŭ́mphē	τὼ νῠ́μφᾱ tṑ nŭ́mphā	αἱ νῠ́μφαι hai nŭ́mphai
Genitive	τῆς νῠ́μφης tês nŭ́mphēs	τοῖν νῠ́μφαιν toîn nŭ́mphain	τῶν νῠμφῶν tôn nŭmphôn
Dative	τῇ νῠ́μφῃ têi nŭ́mphēi	τοῖν νῠ́μφαιν toîn nŭ́mphain	ταῖς νῠ́μφαις taîs nŭ́mphais
Accusative	τὴν νῠ́μφην tḕn nŭ́mphēn	τὼ νῠ́μφᾱ tṑ nŭ́mphā	τᾱ̀ς νῠ́μφᾱς tā̀s nŭ́mphās
Vocative	νῠ́μφη nŭ́mphē	νῠ́μφᾱ nŭ́mphā	νῠ́μφαι nŭ́mphai
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 nŭ́mphē	νῠ́μφᾱ nŭ́mphā	νῠ́μφαι nŭ́mphai
Genitive	νῠ́μφης nŭ́mphēs	νῠ́μφαιν / νῠ́μφαιῐν / νῠ́μφῃῐν nŭ́mphai(ĭ)n / nŭ́mphēiĭn	νῠμφᾱ́ων / νῠμφέ͜ων / νῠμφῶν nŭmphā́ōn / nŭmphé͜ōn / nŭmphôn
Dative	νῠ́μφῃ nŭ́mphēi	νῠ́μφαιν / νῠ́μφαιῐν / νῠ́μφῃῐν nŭ́mphai(ĭ)n / nŭ́mphēiĭn	νῠ́μφῃσῐ / νῠ́μφῃσῐν / νῠ́μφῃς / νῠ́μφαις nŭ́mphēisĭ(n) / nŭ́mphēis / nŭ́mphais
Accusative	νῠ́μφην nŭ́mphēn	νῠ́μφᾱ nŭ́mphā	νῠ́μφᾱς nŭ́mphās
Vocative	νῠ́μφη / νῠ́μφᾰ nŭ́mphē / nŭ́mphă	νῠ́μφᾱ nŭ́mphā	νῠ́μφαι nŭ́mphai
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 (ắnŭmphos)
• δῠ́σνῠμφος (dŭ́snŭmphos)
• εὔνῠμφος (eúnŭmphos)
• κᾰκόνῠμφος (kăkónŭmphos)
• κλεψῐ́νῠμφος (klepsĭ́nŭmphos)
• λᾱθρόνῠμφος (lāthrónŭmphos)
• μελλόνῠμφος (mellónŭmphos)
• μῑσόνῠμφος (mīsónŭmphos)
• νεόνῠμφος (neónŭmphos)
• νῠμφᾱγενής (nŭmphāgenḗs)
• νῠμφᾱγέτης (nŭmphāgétēs)
• νῠμφᾰγωγός (nŭmphăgōgós)
• νῠμφαῖος (nŭmphaîos)
• νῠμφεῖος (nŭmpheîos)
• νῠμφεύω (nŭmpheúō)
• νῠμφῐ́δες (nŭmphĭ́des)
• νῠμφῐ́δῐος (nŭmphĭ́dĭos)
• νῠμφῐκός (nŭmphĭkós)
• νῠμφῐ́ος (nŭmphĭ́os)
• νῠμφόβᾱς (nŭmphóbās)
• νῠμφογέννητος (nŭmphogénnētos)
• νῠμφόκλαυτος (nŭmphóklautos)
• νῠμφοκόμος (nŭmphokómos)
• νῠμφόληπτος (nŭmphólēptos)
• νῠμφοπόνος (nŭmphopónos)
• νῠμφοστόλος (nŭmphostólos)
• νῠμφοτερεῖς (nŭmphotereîs)
• νῠμφότῑμος (nŭmphótīmos)
• νῠμφοτομέω (nŭmphotoméō)
• νῠμφοτομῐ́ᾱ (nŭmphotomĭ́ā)
• νῠμφοτροφέω (nŭmphotrophéō)
• νῠμφοφόρος (nŭmphophóros)
• νῠμφώδης (nŭmphṓdēs)
• νῠμφών (nŭmphṓn)
• ὁμόνῠμφος (homónŭmphos)
• πᾰλεονῠμφᾱ́γονος (păleonŭmphā́gonos)
• πᾰρᾰ́νῠμφος (părắnŭmphos)
• πολῠ́νῠμφος (polŭ́nŭmphos)
• προνῠ́μφῐος (pronŭ́mphĭos)
• σῠννῠμφοκόμος (sŭnnŭmphokómos)
• σῠ́ννῠμφος (sŭ́nnŭmphos)
• ῠ̔πονῠμφῐ́ς (hŭponŭmphĭ́s)

Related terms

• νῠ́μφαιον (nŭ́mphaion)
• νῠμφᾰ́ς (nŭmphắs)
• νῠμφᾰ́σμᾰτᾰ (nŭmphắsmătă)
• νῠ́μφευμᾰ (nŭ́mpheumă)
• νῠ́μφευσῐς (nŭ́mpheusĭs)
• νῠμφευτήρ (nŭmpheutḗr)
• νῠμφευτήρῐος (nŭmpheutḗrĭos)
• νῠμφευτής (nŭmpheutḗs)
• νῠμφεύτρῐᾰ (nŭmpheútrĭă)
• νῠμφῐᾰ́ω (nŭmphĭắō)

Descendants

• Greek: νύμφη (nýmfi, “nymph; bride”), νύφη (nýfi, “bride; in-law”)
• Mariupol Greek: нимф (nimf, “fairy”), ныф (nyf, “bride; in-law”)
• → Latin: lympha, nympha (see there for further descendants)
• → Russian: ни́мфа (nímfa)

Further reading

• “νύμφη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “νύμφη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “νύμφη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “νύμφη”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• νύμφη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• νύμφη in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G3565 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• νύμφη in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bride idem, page 97.
  • elf idem, page 265.
  • fairy idem, page 302.
  • nymph idem, page 563.
  • sylph idem, page 850.
• “νύμφη”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

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

	singular	plural
nominative	νύμφη (nýmfi)	νύμφες (nýmfes)
genitive	νύμφης (nýmfis)	νυμφών (nymfón)
accusative	νύμφη (nýmfi)	νύμφες (nýmfes)
vocative	νύμφη (nýmfi)	νύμφες (nýmfes)

Synonyms

• (bride): νύφη f (nýfi)
• (chrysalis, pupa): χρυσαλλίδα f (chrysallída)

Further reading

• νύμφη on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el