神話裡的自然精靈
這是最原始、最有畫面的一支：年輕的身影被綁在一棵樹、一條溪、一座山上。
noun · B2
In the old stories of Greece and Rome, a young female spirit of nature who belongs to one tree, stream, hill or part of the sea, and who appears in the shape of a young woman.
寧芙／自然女精靈
核心畫面
One way to hold nymph: a young female figure who has not yet become the full, finished thing. In the Greek stories she is a girl on the edge of being a bride, tied to one tree or one stream. English keeps that not-yet-grown feeling wherever the word travels — onto a real girl praised in a poem, and onto an insect that is alive and moving but still on its way to being an adult.
nymph 可以想成一個「還沒長成的年輕身影」。希臘故事裡，她是快要成為新娘的女孩，住在一棵樹或一條溪裡，屬於那個地…更多收起
nymph 可以想成一個「還沒長成的年輕身影」。希臘故事裡，她是快要成為新娘的女孩，住在一棵樹或一條溪裡，屬於那個地方。這個「年輕、還沒到最後形態」的感覺，一路跟著這個字走：詩人用它稱讚真實的少女，生物學拿它標昆蟲還沒長成的階段。三種用法看起來差很遠，但底下都是同一張臉。From the word’s history
English nymph goes back through Latin nympha to Ancient Greek νύμφη, which meant a bride or a young maiden. The modern uses all sit close to that original 'young, not yet fully grown' picture.
nymph 經拉丁文 nympha 上溯到希臘文 νύμφη，原意是「新娘、年輕女子」。今天的幾個用法都還貼著這個「年輕、尚未長成」的原始畫面。
Wiktionary/kaikki entry for nymph (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:432685916), etymology_text supplied in this packet
Three branches
文學裡的年輕美人
把神話那張臉借來，蓋在真實的人身上。
noun · C1
A beautiful, graceful young woman or girl.
（文學）美麗的少女
昆蟲的若蟲
同一個核心的另一種取法：這裡取的不是「女性」，而是「還沒長成」。
noun · B2
The young form of certain insects, after the egg and before the adult.
若蟲（昆蟲幼期）