mermaid
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɜːˌmeɪd/
ipa: /ˈmɝ.meɪd/
Forms: form: 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”).
Senses: examples: text: Search the depth, & ſee that variety of Sea monſters & fiſhes, Mare-maids, Sea men, Horſes, &c. which it affords.
ref: 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 2, member 3, page 210:
text: People that are drowned, and whose bodies are not founds are believed to have been taken into the dwellings of the Mermaids.
ref: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 242:
synonyms: mergirl
merlady
mermaiden
merwoman
hypernyms: merperson
holonyms: merfolk
coordinate_terms: melusine
nixie
siren
glosses: A mythological creature with a woman's head and upper body, and a tail of a fish.
examples: text: a mermaid smoothie
text: mermaid ice-cream
glosses: Coloured a brilliant turquoise.
raw_tags: as a modifier
examples: text: A Gentleman or an honeſt Cittizen, ſhall not Sit in your pennie-bench Theaters, vvith his Squirrell by his ſide cracking nuttes; nor ſneake into a Tauerne vvith his Mermaid; but he ſhall be Satyr'd and Epigram'd vpon, and his humour muſt run vpo'th Stage: […]
ref: 1601 (first performance), Thomas Dekker, Satiro-mastix. Or The Untrussing of the Humorous Poet. […], London: […] [Edward Allde] for Edward White, […], published 1602, →OCLC, signature H2, recto:
synonyms: word: hooker
word: lady of the night
word: abandons
word: alley cat
word: almah
word: bangtail
word: Bankside lady
word: bargirl
word: bat
word: beotch
word: blouze
word: blowen
word: blowsabella
word: brass nail
word: brasser
word: brass
word: broad
word: business girl
word: calico queen
word: callet
word: cat
word: chippy
word: chromo
word: coaster
word: cockatrice
word: cocotte
word: comfort girl
word: comfort woman
word: commoner
word: Covent Garden nun
word: creature of the night
word: croshabell
word: daughter of joy
word: dollymop
word: doxy
word: drab
word: Dutch widow
word: escort
word: fille de joie
word: flap
word: floozie
word: fornicatrix
word: frail sister
word: Fulham virgin
word: gamester
word: gay lady
word: geebag
word: gillian
word: gill
word: girl rented overnight
word: good-time girl
word: GRO
word: hackney
word: harlot
word: Haymarket ware
word: hireling
word: 'ho
word: hoer
word: hoe
word: hook
word: hooker
word: hustler
word: Japayuki-san
word: jay
word: karayuki-san
word: KTV girl
word: laced mutton
word: lady of leisure
word: lady of light virtue
word: lady of pleasure
word: lady of the evening
word: lady of the night
word: lightskirt
word: loose woman
word: lot lizard
word: meat puppet
word: meretrix
word: mermaid
word: minx
word: mob
word: moll
word: mort wap-apace
word: mot
word: mud kicker
word: mud-kicker
word: mudkicker
word: musk cat
word: mutton
word: nun
word: nymph of darkness
word: nymph of the pavé
word: nymph of the pavement
word: painted lady
word: Paphian
word: party girl
word: pavement princess
word: perdita
word: pimpette
word: pretty horsebreaker
word: priestess of Venus
word: pro skirt
word: prossie
word: prossy
word: pross
word: prostie
word: prostitute
word: prostitutor
word: prosty
word: prozzie
word: prozzy
word: pro
word: public woman
word: pucelle
word: puella publica
word: pug
word: punk
word: pussygirl
word: puta
word: put
word: quail
word: quean
word: quene
word: quiff
word: ribibe
word: scrubber
word: sex labourer
word: sex worker
word: skainsmate
word: skivvy
word: slag
word: slapper
word: slit
word: slut
word: sodomitess
word: soiled dove
word: stem siren
word: stew
word: street taco
word: strumpet
word: succubus
word: Suzi Wong
word: Suzie Wong
word: Suzy Wong
word: tart
word: tawaif
word: thotty
word: thot
word: tib
word: tom
word: treddle
word: trick turner
word: trollop
word: trug
word: trull
word: tweak
word: vice girl
word: wanton
word: wapping dell
word: wapping moll
word: wapping mort
word: wench
word: whore
word: woman of easy virtue
word: woman of ill fame
word: woman of ill repute
word: woman of the night
word: woman of the street
word: woman of the town
word: working girl
glosses: A prostitute.
Derived terms: taxonomic: Floerkea proserpinacoides
word: false mermaid
word: Fiji mermaid
word: mermaidcore
word: mermaiding
word: mermaidish
word: mermaidlike
taxonomic: Chorda filum
word: mermaid's fishing line
alt: Haliclona oculata; Alcyonium digitatum
word: mermaid's glove
taxonomic: Lyngbya majuscula
word: mermaid's hair
alt: Spatengus spp.; Amphidetus cordatus
word: mermaid's head
word: mermaid skirt
word: mermaid's purse
taxonomic: Anomiidae spp.
word: mermaid's toenail
taxonomic: Chorda filum
word: mermaid's tresses
word: mermaid syndrome
word: mermaid tresses
taxonomic: Floerkea proserpinacoides
word: mermaidweed
word: mermaidy
word: reverse mermaid
Related terms: mereswine
merhorse
merman
merwife
merwolf
🧜♀️