English Explanatory Dictionary

merwife

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A mermaid.

Word forms

merwife merwives

Etymology

From Old English merewīf (“water witch, mermaid”), from Proto-West Germanic *mariwīb, from Proto-Germanic *mariwībą (“mermaid, siren”). By surface analysis, mer- + wife. Cognate with Old High German meriwīb.

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