mermaid
pronunciation
How to pronounce mermaid in British English:
UK [ˈmɜ:meɪd]
How to pronounce mermaid in American English:
US [ˈmɜrmeɪd]
-
- Noun:
- half woman and half fish; lives in the sea
Word Origin
- mermaid
- mermaid: [14] A mermaid is literally a ‘seamaiden’. The word was coined on the basis of English mere [OE], which is now a little-used term for ‘lake’, but originally denoted ‘sea’ (it came ultimately from Indo-European *mori-, *mari- ‘sea’, which also produced German meer ‘sea’ and Latin mare ‘sea’, source of French mer and English marine). Mermaid served in due course as a model for merman [17].=> marine, mere
- mermaid (n.)
- mid-14c., mermayde, literally "maid of the sea," from Middle English mere "sea, lake" (see mere (n.)) + maid. Old English had equivalent merewif "water-witch" (see wife), meremenn "mermaid, siren." Tail-less in northern Europe; the fishy form is a medieval influence from classical sirens. A favorite sign of taverns and inns since at least early 15c. (in reference to the inn on Bread Street, Cheapside, London). Mermaid pie (1660s) was "a sucking pig baked whole in a crust."
Example
- 1. But don 't count on finding a silver mermaid dress in the fast-fashion stores .
- 2. Jean paul gaultier took a nautical / mermaid theme that played out in surprising ways .
- 3. These days , the expensive tickets are for maudlin danish princes , not singing mermaid princesses .
- 4. In 1985 , he organized a diving expedition in australia and new guinea to investigate the age-old mystery of the mermaid .
- 5. They are tales of impossible love : a fisherman 's for a mermaid , a statue 's for a swallow .