English Explanatory Dictionary

mermaid

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A mythological creature with a woman's head and upper body, and a tail of a fish.
  2. Coloured a brilliant turquoise.
  3. A prostitute.

Pronunciation

/ˈmɜːˌmeɪd/ /ˈmɝ.meɪd/ En-us-mermaid.ogg

Word forms

mermaid mermaids

Etymology

From Middle English mermayde (“maid of the sea”), from mere (“sea, lake”) + maid, equivalent to mer- + maid. Cognate with Dutch meermeid (“mermaid”), Middle High German mermaget, mermeit (“mermaid”, > German Meermagd, Meermädchen (“mermaid”)). Compare Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin (“mermaid, siren”).

Synonyms

mergirl merlady mermaiden merwoman hooker lady of the night abandons alley cat almah bangtail Bankside lady bargirl bat beotch blouze blowen blowsabella brass nail brasser brass broad business girl calico queen callet cat chippy chromo coaster cockatrice cocotte comfort girl comfort woman commoner Covent Garden nun creature of the night croshabell daughter of joy dollymop doxy drab Dutch widow escort fille de joie flap floozie fornicatrix frail sister Fulham virgin gamester gay lady geebag gillian gill girl rented overnight good-time girl GRO hackney harlot Haymarket ware hireling

Related words

mereswine merhorse merman merwife merwolf 🧜♀️

Derived words

false mermaid Fiji mermaid mermaidcore mermaiding mermaidish mermaidlike mermaid's fishing line mermaid's glove mermaid's hair mermaid's head mermaid skirt mermaid's purse mermaid's toenail mermaid's tresses mermaid syndrome mermaid tresses mermaidweed mermaidy reverse mermaid
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on M Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary