dryad en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈdɹaɪˌæd/
- (US) audio
- /ˈdɹaɪəd/
Etymology
From Old French driade (“wood nymph”), from Latin Dryas, Dryadis, from Ancient Greek Δρυάς (Druás, “dryad”), from δρῦς (drûs, “oak”), from Proto-Indo-European *derew(o)- (“tree, wood”); cf. Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”).
Meanings
-
(Greek) A female tree spirit; a woodnymph or tree nymph.
There it had stood for years, close beside a mighty oak, under which sat often the kindly old priest, who told stories to the listening children. The young chestnut tree listened with them: the Dryad inside it, who was still a child, could remember the time when the tree was so small that it only reached a little higher than the ferns and long blades of grass.
1914, Hans Christian Andersen, “The Dryad”, in William Alexander Craigie, transl., Fairy tales and other stories:No Dryads sought to avert the fate of their kindred trees - no Nereides sported on the waves.
1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 234:
- Any of the dryas plants, especially the plant mountain avens.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| dryads | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
Translations (33)
fa دریاد (female tree spirit) · pl driada (female tree spirit) · it driade (female tree spirit) · es dríade (female tree spirit) · uk дріада (female tree spirit) · io driado (female tree spirit) · es dríada (female tree spirit) · ja ドリュアス (female tree spirit) · pt dríade (female tree spirit) · ca dríada (female tree spirit) · el δρυάς (female tree spirit) · pt dríada (female tree spirit) · af driade (female tree spirit) · fi dryadi (female tree spirit) · ru дриа́да (female tree spirit) · sh drijada (female tree spirit) · lv driāda (female tree spirit) · cs dryáda (female tree spirit) · hu driád (female tree spirit) · eo driado (female tree spirit) · lt driadė (female tree spirit) · sh дријада (female tree spirit) · cmn 樹精 /树精 (female tree spirit) · es dría (female tree spirit) · fr dryade (female tree spirit) · sk dryáda (female tree spirit) · de Dryade (female tree spirit) · be дрыяда (female tree spirit) · sv dryad (female tree spirit) · nl dryade (female tree spirit) · grc Δρυάς (female tree spirit) · no dryade (female tree spirit) · bg дриада (female tree spirit)